Immunologic vasculitis in beige mice with deficiency of leukocytic neutral protease.

Immune complex vasculitis has been induced in normal mice and in mice with features of the Chediak-Higashi syndrome ("beige" mice). The accumulation of neutrophils in peritoneal exudates after the injection of C5a is not quantitatively depressed in beige as compared with normal mice. Immune complex-induced vasculitis in these two strains of mice is not quantitatively different, as assessed by vascular damage (vasopermeability changes and histologic criteria). Measurements of leukocyte enzymes confirm the findings of Vassalli et al. that leukocytes of beige mice lack neutral protease activity. The data suggest that the neutral protease of murine leukocytes does not account for the vascular damage of immune complex vasculitis.