Acute Poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis

Abstract

Antiglobulins were measured in the sera of 82 patients with acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis and correlated with Clq binding activity, serum levels of immunoglobulins and C3, site of infection, antibody titres to streptococcal enzymes, and the duration of the nephritis and interval from infection. Raised serum antiglobulins were found in 89.2 % of the patients. In addition, raised titres were detected at any time during the course of the disease and very early after streptococcal infection. The finding of antiglobulins soon after the infection suggests the possibility that they appear as a primary event in the disease. Several mechanisms have been proposed for the immune renal injury following infection with certain strains of-group A 3 haemolytic streptococcus (Zabriskie et al., 1973). Even though many morphological, clinical, and serological features strongly suggest that acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) is an immune complex disease, the precise nature of the antigen-antibody system(s) operating in the disease remains undefined (Michael et al., 1966; Lange and Treser, 1973; Zabriskie et al., 1973). The evidence suggest that antibody reacting with streptococcal antigen(s) in the circulation or locally in the glomerulus incites renal inflammatory disease (