Digestion of Anti-Kidney Antibody: Effects on Its Nephrotoxicity and Ability to Fix Complement

Abstract

Digestion of anti-kidney antibody to produce univalent and divalent fragments greatly reduced its nephrotoxicity and its ability to fix complement (C′) in vivo, suggesting that the nephrotoxicity may be in large part dependent on C′ fixation. The univalent fragments produced no significant proteinuria, and neither type of fragment fixed quantities of C′ large enough to be regarded as definite. However, the divalent fragments retained the ability to produce early proteinuria to a greater degree than they retained the ability to fix C′. This suggests that the antibody may be able to cause some damage independent of C′ fixation but requiring divalent molecules.