Reactivity of sera from patients with renal and liver diseases with membrane antigens on monkey kidney cells.

Abstract

Sera from patients with renal and liver diseases showed reactivity against membrane antigens on monkey kidney cells in about 35%, using the mixed haemadsorption technique (MHT). The incidence of reactions on the same tissue with sera from patients with thyroid diseases and normal blood donors was about 10%. 18 sera from the liver and renal disease groups were studied with regard to antibody specificity. Immunofluorescence showed that some sera contained antibodies reacting with a restricted number of monkey kidney cells, the relative proportion of which ranged from 5 to 40%. The antibodies were predominantly of IgG class. Human kidney cells showed a similar staining pattern and similar number of stained cells. The results suggest that this reactivity is due to the presence in high concentration of an antigenic marker related or identical to human A and B blood group substances on certain kidney cells, which easily distinguishes such cells from other kidney cells. The present investigation shows that ordinary levels of isoagglutinins can interfere with the result in immunological tests, for instance HL-A typing, where the target tissue contains A or B blood group-related substances, especially when such sensitive techniques as MHT are used. The data further point to the possibility that elevation of anti-A and anti-B reactivity exists in connection with certain kidney and liver diseases.