Fungicidal activity of rabbit alveolar and peritoneal macrophages against Candida albicans

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Abstract
The ability of rabbit macrophages to kill C. albicans was tested in vitro. Resident (unstimulated) alveolar macrophages killed 28.1 .+-. 1.9% of ingested organisms in 4 h, whereas resident peritoneal macrophages killed only 15.2 .+-. 1.3% (mean .+-. SEM P < 0.01). Peritoneal macrophages obtained from rabbits treated 3 wk earlier with complete Freund adjuvant [CFA] showed enhanced candidacidal activity relative to normally resident peritoneal cells (28.2 .+-. 3.1%, P < 0.01). Candidacidal activity by alveolar macrophages recovered from such treated animals was slightly enhanced relative to untreated alveolar macrophages (32.9 .+-. 2.3%). Candidacidal activity by peritoneal and alveolar macrophages was not decreased by several agents (cyanide, azide, sulfadiazine and phenylbutazone) that inhibit the ability of human blood monocytes to kill C. albicans. Candidacidal activity by alveolar macrophages was greatly diminished by iodoacteate, an ineffective inhibitor of this function in human monocytes. Rabbit macrophages kill C. albicans by a fungicidal mechanism distinct from the peroxidase-H2O2 mechanism of human granulocytes and monocytes. The fungicidal properties of peritoneal and alveolar macrophage populations are enhanced after non-specific stimulation with CFA.