Antigenic relationships between kidney and enteric bacteria

Enteric gram negative bacteria have been found to posses antigens which cross react wih blood group antigens and with the Forssman antigen. Extensive studies of these antigenic relationships have provided a molecular structural basis for immunological cross reactivity. They have also raised interest in the potential medical significance of such cross reacting antigens in microbes and man as inducers of natural antibodies, protective immunity or autoimmune reactions. A role of enteric bacterial antigen in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease has been further suggested by the finding that the autoantibodies in patients wih ulcerative colitis cross react with the so called common antigen of Enterobacteriaceae. This paper reviews recent data showing an antigenic relationsip between kidney tissue and certain strains of Escherichia coli, and discusses their potential significance in the renal scarring which occasionally develops as a sequela of urinary tract infections.