Reconstitution of SCID mouse with tonsillar cells from patients with IgA nephropathy.

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is characterized by a predominant IgA deposition to the renal mesangium. Immunological abnormalities are closely related to the occurrence and progression of IgAN. Many reports have indicated that tonsillectomy favours the clinical course of IgAN. To understand the role of tonsil glands in the occurrence and progression of IgAN, we injected tonsillar lymphoid cells from patients with IgAN into severe combined immuno-deficient mice (SCID). Tonsillar glands were obtained surgically from 3 patients with IgAN (experimental group) and from 7 patients with chronic tonsillitis without any manifestation of renal diseases (control group). Tonsils were homogenized and resultant cells cryopreserved. On the day of injection, cells were thawed and passed through Ficoll-Paque gradients to obtain mononuclear cells. Fifty million cells were injected intraperitoneally into the SCID mice. After 8 weeks, transferred cells successfully reconstituted SCID, as shown by the fact that human immunoglobulins were detected in the sera of both groups. Renal histopathological examination revealed there was no IgA deposition to the mesangial area in either group. These results indicate that tonsillar mononuclear cells alone may not directly relate to the occurrence of IgAN.