Effect of immunization and potassium iodide on polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemiluminescence in experimental murine sporotrichosis.

This study was undertaken to examine the effects of immunization with Sporothrix schenckii and oral potassium iodide (KJ) administration on the chemiluminescence (CL) response of mouse polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) in experimental murine sporotrichosis. When N-formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (FMLP) particles were used as foreign bodies to be phagocytosed, the time to the peak CL response of the PMNs in an immunized group was shortened in comparison with a non-immunized control group, and the CL intensity was found to be prolonged. Whereas administration of KJ resulted in a reduction of the CL intensity in non-immunized mice, in immunized mice it caused a rise in CL intensity. When the foreign bodies used as targets for phagocytosis were Sp. schenckii, changes similar to the above occurred, but CL production was reduced.