Bovine glomerular amyloidosis: morphological studies.

Bovine kidney material with advanced glomerular deposits of amyloid was studied immunohistochemically using the avidin biotin complex immunoperoxidase method, with rabbit anti-horse AA serum as primary antibody. Severely affected glomeruli consisted of strongly reacting positive material, obscuring all cellular structures. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the amyloidotic areas, with evident amyloid fibrils, also contained a considerable admixture of cellular remnants. In this investigation it was found that such material was more abundant in the bovine glomerular amyloid masses than in amyloid laden organs from other animal species, and it is discussed to what extent this observation may explain the varying tinctorial properties of amyloid deposits in bovine tissues, and the relative high content of histones in bovine amyloid proteins.