Systemic candidosis in beige mice.

Systemic spread of Candida albicans after intravenous inoculation was compared in beige mice and their functionally normal littermates. The number of colony forming units (c.f.u.) recovered from the kidneys, livers, and spleens of beige mice was substantially greater (100 to 1000-fold) than the number cultured from the respective organs of their functionally normal littermates. Pre-treatment with silica did not alter the number of c.f.u. recovered from the organs of either beige mice or their normal littermates. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that normally functioning polymorphonuclear leukocytes are crucial to the innate defenses that control the proliferation of this fungus.