Activation of murine resident peritoneal macrophages by a cell wall extract of Candida albicans

Ethylenediamine extraction of the cell walls of Candida albicans yields an extract which possesses antigenic activity, and like other whole cell and cell wall preparations of Candida, has been shown previously to possess immunomodulatory activity. We report here results which show that non-elicited, resident peritoneal macrophages treated with the ethylenediamine cell wall extract exhibit morphological characteristics of activated macrophages. Treated cells also manifest an increased respiratory burst response and secrete elevated levels of IL-6. The treatment with the extract appears to provide a co-priming signal to the resting macrophages, since co-stimulation with interferon-gamma results in an increased level of IL-6 and IL-1. Our results also show that extract-treated cells manifest increased responsiveness to a lipopolysaccharide as measured by the production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha. These results provide an additional basis for our understanding of the immunomodulatory activity of components of the Candida cell wall.