Anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) glomerulonephritis in the mouse: development of disease and cell proliferation.

In a mouse model of anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) glomerulonephritis, associated with the nephrotic syndrome, a wide range of morphological and proliferative responses was seen in the renal corpuscle, at 6 days. The severity of the damage could be assessed by measuring the average daily weight gain between days 0 and 3 (DWG) of the animal. Those animals with a high DWG showed capsular proliferation, whereas animals with a low DWG showed predominantly tuft cell proliferation. Capsular cell birth rate increased with DWG whilst tuft cell birth rate was negatively related. A computer simulation suggests that the results are compatible with the induction of successive but overlapping waves of tuft and capsular cell proliferation.