Effects of pokeweed antiviral protein on nephrotoxic serum nephritis accelerated by rabbit IgG in mice

In the mouse model, Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) significantly decreased the level of urinary protein excretion, blood urea nitrogen and blood cholesterol (p<0.01), but increased the level of serum albumin (p<0.01) in nephrotoxic serum nephritis accelerated by rabbit IgG. There was no significant difference between the PAP (ip l.5 mg/(kg-d) x14) and cyclophosphamide (ip 10 mg/(kg.d) x14) groups (p>0.05). Peripheral WBC and peritoneal macrophage phagocytosis were decreased to a lesser extent by PAP than by cyclophosphamide (p<0.01). The evidence suggests that PAP may be useful for inhibiting nephritic changes due to less immunosuppression.