Cryoglobulins in acute experimental immune complex glomerulonephritis.

The relationship between cold-insoluble complexes, or cryoglobulins, and renal disease was studied in rabbits with acute serum sickness produced with BSA. The onset of serum creatinine elevation correlated well with the appearance of cryoglobulins. The average interval between the appearance of cryoglobulins and the elevation in serum creatinine was 0.87 day. In no animal did creatinine elevation precede cryoglobulinemia, even though immune complexes were detectable much earlier by other methods. The level of cryoglobulin correlated significantly with the level of serum creatinine (r = 0.71, p less than 0.01). Cryoglobulins may be of immunopathologic significance in acute experimental immune complex glomerulonephritis.