Role of Candida albicans in granulomatous tissue reactions. II. In vivo degradation of C. albicans in hepatic macrophages of mice.

Hepatic granulomas were induced in mice by injection of blastospores, cell walls, and glucan of Candida albicans. Granulomatous reactions in liver tissue initially multiplied but later decreased. A dose-response relationship was apparent with up to 3 mg of inoculum. Shortly after injection of C. albicans spores, fungal elements appeared in liver macrophages and were detectable in granuloma and Kupffer cells for 20 days. Gram-stain, periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), and immunofluorescence reactions soon vanished, and the organisms could no longer be seen. Glucan of C. albicans, which lacked PAS and immunofluorescence reactivity, proved active in initiation of granulomas. Degradation of phagocytized spores of C. albicans, reductions of cytoplasm, and cell wall deformation and collapse support the premise that loss of PAS and immunofluorescence reactivity was caused by enzymatic breakdown of candida cell wall mannan in macrophages. We conclude that C. albicans can induce granulomatous reactions in mouse liver when the glucan that forms the cell wall matrix in Candida persists in identifiable residues.