RECONSTITUTION OF SCID MOUSE WITH TONSILLAR CELLS FROM PATIENTS WITH IGA NEPHROPATHY

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is characterized by a predominant IgA depositio n to the renal mesangium. Immunological abnormalities are closely rela ted to the occurrence and progression of IgAN. Many reports have indic ated that tonsillectomy favours the clinical course of IgAN. To unders tand the role of tonsil glands in the occurrence and progression of Ig AN, we injected tonsillar lymphoid cells from patients with IgAN into severe combined immuno-deficient mice (SCID). Tonsillar glands were ob tained surgically from 3 patients with IgAN (experimental group) and f rom 7 patients with chronic tonsillitis without any manifestation of r enal diseases (control group). Tonsils were homogenized and resultant cells cryopreserved. On the day of injection, cells were thawed and pa ssed through Ficoll-Paque gradients to obtain mononuclear cells. Fifty million cells were injected intraperitoneally into the SCID mice. Aft er 8 weeks, transferred cells successfully reconstituted SCID, as show n 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 i ndicate that tonsillar mononuclear cells alone may not directly relate to the occurrence of IgAN.