SYSTEMIC AUTOIMMUNITY IN LG J MICE

Humoral and end-organ parameters of autoimmunity were investigated in LG/J mice, which have traditionally been considered normal, non-diseas ed animals. Surprisingly, LG/J mice were found to possess autoantibodi es, including antinuclear antibodies and rheumatoid factor, and to dev elop renal disease, including glomerulonephritis, interstitial nephrit is, and perivasculitis, but not hepatic or cutaneous disease. In contr ast, age-matched, identically-housed control animals failed to develop autoantibodies or end-organ disease. These findings have implications for the genetic study of systemic lupus erythematosus in the MRL muri ne model, which derives heavily from the LG/J background. Thus, the LG /J strain may provide a useful model in the analysis of autoimmunity.