Anti-basement membrane antibody: immunoenzymatic assay and specificity of antibodies

Glomerulonephritis with anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody during pregnancy: potential role of the placenta in amelioration of disease

A case of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis with glomerular deposition of anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibody during pregnancy is described. Development of precipitous renal failure postpartum raised the possibility that the placenta may have served as an adsorptive surface for the autoantibody, thereby ameliorating its manifestations antepartum. Sera from the patient obtained during pregnancy contained low titers of anti-GBM immunoglobulin G. No antibody was identified in the serum from the healthy infant. Additional studies of this patient's sera, as well as sera from other patients with documented anti-GBM antibody-mediated glomerulonephritis, demonstrated that binding of anti-GBM antibody to placental membranes can occur, although it appears weaker than binding to basement membranes in renal glomeruli. We postulate that the patient's accelerated decline in renal function postpartum may have been due to removal of the ameliorating influence of the placenta.

Goodpasture's syndrome in childhood: treatment with plasmapheresis and immunosuppression

Goodpasture's syndrome rarely affects children. Therefore, we present our experience in a young boy whose pulmonary hemorrhage was dramatically resolved by three plasma exchanges. We believe the hemorrhage was caused primarily by acute capillaritis. He received cytoxan and steroids and a series of plasma exchanges which removed/suppressed his anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibody production. However, after a year, his renal function did not return, and he required renal transplantation and continues to do well.

Role of antibodies to tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen in human anti-tubular basement membrane nephritis associated with membranous nephropathy

We report three patients, from two unrelated families, with anti-tubular basement membrane (TBM) antibody nephritis associated with membranous nephropathy. This rare disorder is characterized by nephrotic syndrome, tubular dysfunction, and progression to renal failure. Direct immunofluorescent studies in these patients revealed linear IgG deposition along the proximal TBM, while circulating antibodies reacting with proximal TBM but not with glomerular basement membrane were identified by indirect immunofluorescence. Sera from all three patients reacted by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western immunoblotting with purified 58-kd tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN) antigen isolated from TBM. Additional reactivity with a 175-kd component, which may be a higher-molecular-weight form of TIN antigen, was observed by immunoblotting. Since recurrent Fanconi syndrome was seen after transplantation in one patient, anti-TBM antibodies were removed by plasmapheresis prior to kidney transplantation in the other two patients. Neither patient has clinical evidence of recurrent anti-TBM nephritis in the allograft despite the posttransplantation reappearance of anti-TBM antibodies in the serum of one patient. Serologic and molecular HLA class I and class II polymorphism analysis has identified the presence of both HLA-B7 and -DRw8 antigens in two unrelated affected individuals (0.3% expected frequency in the white population). We conclude that sera from patients with anti-TBM nephritis associated with membranous nephropathy react with 58-kd TIN antigen previously implicated in the pathogenesis of primary anti-TBM nephritis. This rare autoimmune disorder may be HLA associated with B7 and/or DRw8, providing susceptibility to the disease. Further investigation is needed to understand the pathogenesis of recurrent anti-TBM nephritis in the renal allograft.

Autoantibodies to native myeloperoxidase in patients with pulmonary hemorrhage and acute renal failure

Sera from 245 patients were screened by indirect immunofluorescence for perinuclear/nuclear staining (P-ANCA) of ethanol-fixed neutrophils, a staining pattern which is associated with the presence of antibodies to myeloperoxidase. Using immunoblot and immunoprecipitation techniques on 15 P-ANCA-positive sera, 13 patients demonstrated antibody to purified or native myeloperoxidase but not to denatured myeloperoxidase. In patients with P-ANCA, the most frequent reason for medical attention was hemoptysis (8/13; 62%). Of the 15 sera with P-ANCA, acute renal failure was identified in 9 patients (60%). Five patients (33%) had both. All patients (eight of eight) with hemoptysis had antibodies which bound functional MPO as compared to three of seven P-ANCA-positive patients without hemoptysis (P less than 0.001), suggesting that antibodies which recognize conformational sites on native myeloperoxidase occur in a subgroup of patients with alveolar hemorrhage as their presenting clinical sign. These findings may provide insight into the disease process associated with P-ANCA. We further identify a subgroup of patients with a severe pulmonorenal syndrome and antibodies recognizing native myeloperoxidase.

A rapid assay for circulating anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies in Goodpasture syndrome

A rapid ELISA for the detection of circulating anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies in Goodpasture syndrome is described. The specificity of the test was shown to be highly dependent on the antigens used. Using the purified Goodpasture antigen it was possible to shorten the incubation times to 10 min in a routine assay using alkaline phosphatase-labeled second antibodies and the total assay was complete in 30 min. 200 reference sera, 500 sera from patients with various types of glomerulonephritis and 32 sera from patients with Goodpasture syndrome were analyzed by this rapid assay. The assay was able to discriminate between Goodpasture syndrome and other forms of glomerulonephritis. Using enzyme amplification it was possible to further shorten the incubation times to 1 min and the total time of the assay to 6 min.

Routine and rapid enzyme linked immunosorbent assays for circulating anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies

Microtitre plate modifications of the original tube enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of Wheeler and Sussman were used for the routine and rapid assays of anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies in human sera. In a prospective study of 238 sera from 200 patients, the routine assay (about 24 hours) detected circulating antibodies in seven sera from three patients with active anti-glomerular basement membrane disease. The remaining sera, from patients with a variety of other glomerulonephropathies, were negative by the assay. The rapid assays took less than four hours, and in a retrospective study, detected anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies in a range of 15 positive sera, with a level of discrimination similar to that observed in the routine assay and with no false positive/negative results.

Identification of a target antigen in human anti-tubular basement membrane nephritis

Sera from two patients with primary anti-tubular-basement-membrane-mediated tubulointerstitial nephritis, one a renal allograft recipient and the other with spontaneous anti-tubular-basement-membrane disease, were analyzed for the specificity of their autoantibodies. Both sera had circulating antibodies that reacted by ELISA with extracts of tubular basement membrane from several species, but failed to react significantly with extracts of glomerular basement membrane. Reactive antigen was solubilized with 6 M guanidine-HCl, 6 M urea, with reduction and alkylation, and with sodium dodecylsulfate. Digestion of the basement membrane with collagenase released relatively small quantities of antigen from the membrane, and trypsin and pepsin destroyed its antigenicity. The antigenic activity was characterized with respect to its size distribution by gel filtration and by immuno-overlay analysis of protein blots. Collectively, the results indicate that the major reactivity of both sera is directed towards a Mr 58,000 component that is unique to the tubular basement membrane. Minor reactivities toward high molecular weight components common to both glomerular and tubular basement membranes were detected by immuno-overlay analysis. This study identifies an antigen that is involved in human anti-tubular-basement-membrane-mediated tubulointerstitial nephritis, and demonstrates an advantage of the use of denaturing extraction over proteolytic methods to prepare the antigen.

The involvement of type IV collagen in Goodpasture's syndrome

Goodpasture's syndrome, involving lung and kidney, is considered to be caused by autoantibodies to basement membranes. This paper has described the isolation and identification of the antigen, which is isolated from collagenase digests of glomerular basement membrane, as a monomer protein of 26,000 daltons and two dimers of about 50,000 daltons. Further analyses indicated that the antigenic protein is derived from the globular domain of type IV collagen corresponding to the NCl peptide. All 22 patients with Goodpasture's syndrome studied had circulating antibodies to this antigen, a few had additional antibodies to laminin, and only one also had antibodies to the 7S collagen domain. No other patient with glomerulonephritis had circulating antibodies to the antigen. The isolated protein can therefore be used in an assay specific for Goodpasture's syndrome. Interestingly the protein antigen could be identified in glomerular, lung, and placenta basement membranes, although the components reacting with the antibodies represented different proportions of the preparations.

Antiglomerular basement membrane antibodies in human sera: detection by a modified micro-ELISA

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of antibodies to human glomerular basement membrane has been developed. Special emphasis has been put on the choice of microtiter plates which were coated with a collagenase digest of human glomerular basement membrane. Results differed markedly between the different microtiter plates. Best results were obtained with a flexible polyvinylchloride microtiter plate with flat wells (Dynatec). This plate exhibited the highest positive/negative ratio and the lowest intraassay standard deviation. Optimal conditions for each step in the ELISA have been determined. The assay proved to be specific, sensitive, and reproducible. Circulating antibodies in each of 11 patients with active antiglomerular basement membrane disease were detected by the ELISA, while sera from patients with various renal and nonrenal diseases were negative by the test.

Antiglomerular basement membrane antibody: antibody specificity in different forms of glomerulonephritis

Components were solubilized from human glomerular basement membrane by digestion with collagenase and pepsin or by extraction with guanidine-HCl either directly or after previous digestion with the enzyme. The diverse preparations were used as antigens in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of antibody titers in sera from patients with Goodpasture syndrome and patients with other forms of glomerulonephritis, that is, systemic lupus erythematosus, periarteritis nodosa, and IgA-related nephropathy. Patients with Goodpasture syndrome had high titers of IgG antibodies reacting most strongly with collagenase digests. The antigen(s) was only partly solubilized by guanidine-HCl extraction, was destroyed by pepsin digestion as well as reduction, and partly destroyed by trypsin digestion. The antigen(s) is most likely noncollagenous protein. Antibodies from patients with other forms of nephritis were directed primarily against antigens in guanidine-HCl extracts, while the antigen(s) was not solubilized by collagenase digestion. Pepsin digestion destroyed the antigen(s). The antibodies were of a different class, that is, the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus had IgG and IgA as well as IgM antibodies; the patients with periarteritis nodosa had IgM or IgG and IgA antibodies, while the patients with IgA-related nephritis had the highest recorded titers of IgA but also had IgG as well as IgM antibodies. None of the patients had antibodies directed against triple helical collagen. The antibody response in anti-GBM antibody-related nephritis, then, is different both with respect to antigen and antibody class and depends on the underlying disease syndrome.