The role of monocytes in serum sickness nephritis.

We have investigated the pathogenesis of glomerular hypercellularity seen in acute serum sickness nephritis induced in rabbits with bovine serum albumin (BSA). The increase in cellularity began with the first stages of immune clearance of BSA, with a peak cellularity occuring at the time of onset of proteinuria. Although there was a significant increase in the fraction of glomerular cells incorporating [3H]thymidine, first seen at the onset of proteinuria, this increase occurred too late and was too small to explain the observed rate of increase in glomerular cellularity. On the other hand, a striking monocytic infiltration of the glomeruli was documented by electron microscopy and by staining for nonspecific esterase. This monocytic infiltration paralleled the observed course of glomerular hypercellularity and was quantitatively sufficient to explain the total increase seen. It appears, therefore, that glomerular hypercellularity seen in this model is principally a result of monocyte infiltration.