Experimental disseminated candidiasis. II. Administration of glucocorticosteroids, susceptibility to infection, and immunity.

A model of experimental disseminated candidiasis in inbred guinea pigs was used for study of the effects of both short-acting and long-acting glucocorticosteroid administration on the susceptibility to infection, the development of in vivo and in vitro parameters of cell-mediated immunity, and the expression of already established Candida-specific, cell-mediated immunity. Results revealed that long-acting glucocorticosteroids markedly potentiated infection, increasing mortality and suppressing already established cellular immune parameters. The development of cellular immunity to Candida was not impaired. Short-acting glucocorticosteroids, however, did not potentiate infection, and they affected neither the development nor the expression of immune parameters.