Comparison of candidacidal and candidastatic activities of human neutrophils

Disruption of neutrophils causes the release of a cytoplasmic protein which can inhibit the growth of Candida albicans without killing the organisms. The present study was undertaken with a combined system in which candidacidal and candidastatic activities of human neutrophils could be compared. In this system it was found that disruption of either half or all of the neutrophils in the samples markedly improved the ability of the cells to handle an inoculum of Candida yeast cells over a 48-h period, even though the disrupted cells had primarily candidastatic activity, with very little candidacidal activity.