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Repeated low-dose injections of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) in the brown Norway (BN) rat result in polyclonal activation which includes the induction of anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) autoantibodies. We examined the kinetics of various autoantibodies produced in vivo, general features of polyclonal activation such as total IgG levels and immune complex formation, and the relationship between organ specific autoimmunity and tissue injury in the kidney and thyroid The production of immune complexes and autoantibodies to GBM and thyroglobulin was short lived and the increase in levels of total IgG and antibodies to ssDNA and dsDNA was prolonged; the antibody response to collagen types land II was intermediate in duration. Autoantibodies induced by HgCl: caused only mild and variable tissue injury in the kidneys and did not induce abnormalities in the thyroid. These studies demonstrate that immunostimulation by mercury may result in the formation of a range of autoantibodies with variable kinetics and pathogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]