Effect of murine polymorphonuclear leukocytes on the yeast form of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis [corrected]

The fungicidal activity of murine polymorphonuclear neutrophils from the peripheral blood or elicited intraperitoneally with thioglycollate or with antigen in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis-sensitized [corrected] or nonsensitized mice was studied. Although peripheral blood, thioglycollate-elicited, and antigen-elicited neutrophils from normal mice or thioglycollate-elicited neutrophils from P. brasiliensis-sensitized [corrected] mice killed Candida albicans (57% to 84%), they failed to significantly reduce inoculum colony forming units of P. brasiliensis [corrected] (0% to 13%). In contrast, antigen-elicited neutrophils from sensitized mice reduced colony forming units of P. brasiliensis [corrected] by 40%, and exhibited significantly enhanced candidacidal activity compared to thioglycollate-elicited neutrophils from normal or sensitized mice but not peripheral blood neutrophils from normal mice. Fresh serum, but not specific antibody, was required for optimal killing of P. brasiliensis [corrected], presumably representing an essential role for complement. Killing of P. brasiliensis [corrected] by antigen-elicited neutrophils from sensitized mice correlated with their ability to produce an enhanced oxidative burst, as measured by luminol-assisted chemiluminescence, when interacting with killed P. brasiliensis [corrected] cells. These results indicate that in P. brasiliensis-sensitized [corrected] hosts an inflammatory reaction to P. brasiliensis [corrected] results in activation of neutrophils for significant killing of the pathogen.