A ubiquitous tissue antigen and its corresponding antibody in sera of patients with glomerulonephritides.

Sera and 5% PEG-precipitates from 20 patients with IMN, 18 with MPGN, 20 with SLE, 8 with anti-GBM disease and 17 with other varieties of glomerulonephritides, 19 patients with chronic liver or intestinal diseases, as well as those from 40 healthy adults, were tested by gel prcipitation for the presence of a ubiquitous tissue antigen (UTA) and/or its corresponding antibody, previously shown to be associated with renal disorders. The antigen was detected in sera of 5 patients with IMN, one with anit-GBM disease and one with SLE. Corresponding antibodies were present in sera of 2 patients with IMN. In 4 of 5 patients with IMN and UTA was only detected if the sera were first treated with PEG (mol. wt. 6,000) which induces precipitation of antigen-antibody complexes and other high molecular weight components in serum. The UTA was not detected in renal glomeruli by immunofluorescence. The possible significance of these findings in the pathogenesis of renal diseases is discussed.