Hepatic clearance of Candida albicans in rats.

The initial clearance of Candida albicans from the blood stream of rats and from perfusion medium by perfused rat livers was characterized. Normal rats cleared over 90% of large doses of intravenously injected yeast cells in 5 min. All were recovered as viable cells among various reticulendothelial organs after 30 min. The perfused rat liver trapped an average of 85% of the yeast cells in a single pass. No significant killing occurred, even in the presence of 10% whole rat blood. Scanning electron microscopy of cryofractured livers revealed that the cells were trapped in liver sinusoids but outside phagocytic cells.