Localization of Gamma-Globulin in the Diseased Kidney

Abstract

Introduction Although the histology of the end-stage kidney, as seen post mortem, rarely conveys evidence of the pathogenesis or etiology of the disease process which damaged it, recognition of the different forms of nephritis is slowly unfolding. Through study of the natural histories of renal disease, augmented by serial renal biopsies, it is becoming increasingly clear that "glomerulonephritis" is not a single unique disease. Its development depends on several distinct etiologies and a variety of pathogenetic mechanisms, among which are some which possibly result from immunological reactions. In recent years the concept that the kidney may be damaged by immunological reactions has received considerable support from experimental studies in animals. In man, at least two disorders of the kidney, acute streptococcal glomerulonephritis and lupus nephritis, seem to develop as a result of immunological reactions involving the organ. If an immunological reaction were proceeding within the renal tissues, it would seem