Abstract
Summary
Coagulation processes are considered important in the pathogenesis of several forms of human and experimental renal disease. The possibility was examined that anticoagulation could modify the course of acute serum sickness nephritis in rabbits.
Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was given iv to 28 rabbits. Beginning on the sixth to eighth day 15 rabbits were anticoagulated with iv warfarin sodium. Renal biopsies done prior to BSA injection and at time of BSA elimination from the serum were examined by light and immunofluorescent microscopy. Most animals in both the nonanticoagulated and anticoagulated groups had significant glomerulonephritis and no differences between the groups were detected.
Although the evidence is convincing that the coagulation process is operative in the pathogenesis of nephrotoxic serum nephritis–a condition due to antiglomerular basement membrane antibodies–our data suggest that this mechanism does not play a significant role in the pathogenesis of antigen-antibody complex nephritis of the acute serum sickness type.
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