EVIDENCE THAT LITHIUM-CHLORIDE TREATMENT OF FEMALE NZB W MICE DOES NOT INFLUENCE AUTOANTIBODY PROFILES IN THIS MURINE MODEL OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS/

Treatment of female NZB/W mice (a murine model of systemic lupus eryth ematosus which develops immune-mediated renal failure) with LiCl has b een shown in previous studies to enhance the long-term survival of a s ubset (50 to 73%) of the mice. The present study was undertaken to fur ther examine the possibility that LiCl-treatment enhanced survival by overtly altering the pattern of autoantibodies expressed in mice respo nsive to treatment versus untreated mice or treated mice unresponsive to the effects of LiCl. Panels of female mice were untreated or treate d with LiCl starting at 8 weeks of age. Treated and untreated mice wer e sacrificed at 16, 22 and 28 weeks of age. Serum was analyzed for ant i-single stranded DNA, gp70-anti-gp70 immune complexes and reactivity to lysates of procine renal tubule cells (PK-15 and LLC-PK1) by wester n blotting. Based on these assays, no evidence for LiCl-mediated suppr ession of autoantibody expression could be obtained when comparisons b etween treated and untreated samples were obtained. Similarly, no evid ence for unique autoantibody profiles in subsets of Li-treated animals were made. Therefore, the effectiveness of LiCl treatment in this mod el does not appear to be related to immunosuppression of this aspect o f the disease process.