Impact of anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies and glomerular neutrophil activation on glomerulonephritis in experimental myeloperoxidase-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody vasculitis

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) and neutrophil interactions play important roles in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) pathogenesis. However, mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of crescent formation in ANCA-associated vasculitis have not been completely elucidated. To ascertain the involvement of these interactions in necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis (NCGN), we used an AAV rat model and investigated the effects of the anti-myeloperoxidase (MPO) antibody (Ab) titer, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and subnephritogenic anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) Abs, as proinflammatory stimuli. NCGN was induced in Wistar Kyoto rats by human MPO (hMPO) immunization. Renal function, pathology, and glomerular cytokine and chemokine expression were evaluated in hMPO-immunized rats with/without several co-treatments (TNF-alpha, G-CSF or subnephritogenic anti-GBM Abs). Rat neutrophils activation by IgG purified from rat serum in each group was examined in vitro. The hMPO-immunized rats had significantly higher level of anti-hMPO Ab production. The induced anti-hMPO Abs cross-reacted with TNF-alpha- or G-CSF-primed rat neutrophils secreting TNF-alpha and interleukin-1 beta in vitro. The reactivity of anti-MPO Abs against rat MPO, crescent formation with neutrophil extracellular traps and glomerular-activated neutrophil infiltration in the rat model were significantly enhanced by subnephritogenic anti-GBM Ab but not by TNF-alpha or G-CSF administration. The model rats injected with the subnephritogenic anti-GBM Abs showed increased urinary albumin excretion and serum TNF-alpha, chemokine (C-X-C) ligand 1 (CXCL1) and CXCL2 levels. TNF-alpha, CXCL1, CXCL2 and CXCL8 increased in the glomeruli with significant amounts of crescent formation. In addition, in vitro activated neutrophils decreased CXC chemokine receptor 1 (CXCR1) and CXCR2 expressions. The coexistence of subnephritogenic anti-GBM Abs leads to the inflammatory environment in glomeruli that is amplified by the interaction of ANCA and neutrophils. Development of NCGN in MPO-AAV may be necessary for not only the accumulation of neutrophils in glomeruli, but also the aberrant neutrophil activation on glomerulonephritis.