The effect of pre-injection of rat kidney F3 antigen on the development of passive Heymann nephritis.

The effect of repeated i.p. injections of a small dose of rat kidney F3 antigen, in an aqueous solution, on the development of passive Heymann nephritis in the rat has been investigated. The test animals receiving the antigen before the i.v. injection of the heterologous antibody developed more numerous and larger immune complexes on the epithelial side of the glomerular basement membrane than the control rats. It is suggested that the injected antigen is trapped in the glomerular basement membrane at sites where the pre-existing nephritogenic antigen is present making it possible for the more numerous and larger deposits to form.