Abstract
Aging mice frequently develop a glomerulosclerosis; the severity of the lesion varies among mouse strains and increases with age. The kidneys of fifty 1-year-old C57BL/6 mice were examined and 48 had histologic evidence of mild to moderate intercapillary glomerulosclerosis. All fifty mice had glomerular deposits of IgG and 41 had deposits of C3 which were located in the mesangial zone and along glomerular capillary walls. Fifty to 57% of the kidney-bound immunoglobulin which was eluted reacted with murine leukemia virus cell surface antigen, while 8 to 37% of the immunoglobulin reacted with syngeneic erythrocytes. The glomerulosclerosis of aging C57BL/6 mice appears to be an immune complex glomerulonephritis induced by murine leukemia virus antigens, and to a lesser extent, erythrocyte antigens.
