Comparison of Candida killing activity measured by chemiluminescence and cytomorphological methods in human phagocytes.

Phagocyte function can be assayed by many laboratory tests including a cytomorphological method that uses Candida cells as target. The aim of this study was to correlate this technique with the production of toxic oxygen metabolites, measured by chemiluminescence (CL). The biological function of polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells and monocytes from the blood of 24 normal subjects and 25 patients with immunodeficiency diseases were studied. CL was measured using opsonized zymosan as the stimulating agent and, for the evaluation of Candida killing activity, C. pseudotropicalis and C. albicans were used as targets. A linear correlation between CL and lytic activity was observed with both PMN and monocytes from normal subjects and patients (r = 0.563 to 0.955; P less than 0.05 to less than 0.001). Our results indicate that the production of toxic oxygen metabolites, as measured by CL is closely related to the killing of Candida by PMN and monocytes.