Cellular and humoral immune responses to Candida albicans in subcutaneously infected mice.

Pure mycelial and yeast cultures of Candida albicans were produced in a low sulphate medium. Groups of mice were injected subcutaneously with increasing doses of viable or heat-killed mycelial or yeast cells and the kinetics of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), anti-mycelial and anti-yeast antibodies were studied. Both the dose and the morphological phase of C. albicans showed an influence on the development of the DTH, but the viability is the factor which showed the highest influence on this reaction, since on the one hand mice infected with viable yeast or mycelial cells developed higher DTH levels than mice injected with heat killed cells, and on the other hand this factor seems to play an important role in the kinetics of DTH response. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay has been adapted to detect antibodies to yeast and mycelial phase cytoplasmic antigens of C. albicans. In contrast with the DTH reactions, neither dose, morphological phase nor viability played an important role on the antibody titer developed. However, the use of mycelial cytoplasmic antigens seems to be better than the yeasts to detect anti-Candida antibodies over the last days studied.