A further characterization of Candida albicans-induced suppressor B-cell activity.

We have previously established that components of the organism Candida albicans are capable of inducing suppressive activity in a population of B lymphocytes. The activity of this population is antigen non-specific. The proliferative response to T-cell, but not B-cell, specific mitogens is inhibited. In addition, the antibody response in vitro is suppressed. Since little is known about this relatively unique regulatory population, we have attempted to characterize both the expression and induction of activity of the Candida-primed cells. Our results show that both primary and secondary T-cell-dependent antibody responses are inhibited, whereas both type I and type II T-cell-independent antibody responses are not affected by the suppressor cell population. T-cell populations responsible for both interleukin-2 (IL-2) and cytolytic activity are also unaffected. These results suggest that while there is no antigen specificity for this population, the suppressive activity is extended to limited target cell populations. Results also suggest that both T cells and accessory cells are required for the induction of the suppressor cell activity, indicating that the Candida organism acts as a typical T-dependent antigen in the induction of regulatory cell activity.