Failure to transfer haemolytic anaemia or glomerulonephritis with cell-free material from NZB mice.

Experiments attempting to transfer haemolytic anaemia and glomerulonephritis from New Zealand Black (NZB) mice to unrelated strains by the inoculation of newborn animals with cell-free extracts of NZB tissues have been carried out. Cell-free extracts of spleen or plasma from forty-eight NZB donors were inoculated into 274 recipients of the HI, CBA, BALB/c or C57BL strains. No evidence of transfer was obtained. Transient weak positive antiglobulin tests and traces of albuminuria occurred in both inoculated and control mice. Histological examination at 12–24 months of age showed moderate to severe damage in the kidneys of occasional control and inoculated C57BL and HI mice, and mild damage in occasional control and inoculated BALB/c and CBA recipients. Electron microscopic studies of spleens and kidneys revealed a few virus-like particles in two out of eight recipients and one out of four control mice.