Neutrophil death as a defence mechanism against Candida albicans infections.

In studies of experimental Candida albicans infections, growth of invading organisms sometimes ceased before the organisms reached the neutrophil infiltrates. Lysates of human neutrophils inhibited the directed growth of candida pseudohyphae in agarose gel and suppressed the proliferation of candida yeast in broth cultures, but did not kill the organisms or prevent their germination. The growth-inhibitory material released from disrupted neutrophils had an estimated molecular weight of 30 kD and differed from most previously described neutrophil antimicrobial factors in that it was present in cell sap rather than granules, and did not appear in the supernatant after stimulation of the cells. Neutrophil death and dissolution may represent an alternative host defence mechanism against invasive C albicans infection.