EFFECT OF NITROGEN MUSTARD ON CLINICAL COURSE OF GLOMERULONEPHRITIS

Abstract

REMISSIONS in the nephrotic phase of glomerulonephritis occur spontaneously and may follow intercurrent infections. Blumberg and Cassady¹ and Janeway and associates² have reported that transient reduction in protein excretion and diuresis may follow acquired or induced measles in patients in the nephrotic phase of glomerulonephritis. Since remissions might be related either to factors present in the plasma of patients with acute infections or to disturbances in renal hemodynamics which accompany fever,³ we examined the effects of the infusion of plasma from patients acutely ill with bacterial infections as well as the effects of typhoid vaccine-induced pyrogenic reaction in patients with glomerulonephritis but failed to induce a remission.⁴ Becker⁵ has demonstrated that the administration of methyl-bis (β-chloroethyl) amine hydrochloride (nitrogen mustard) prevents the development of the Shwartzman phenomenon in rabbits. Schwab and associates⁶ have reported that experimental nephritis in rabbits produced by the administration of bovine serum gamma globulin can be