Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-positive sera inhibit candidacidal activity of granulocytes.

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are suspected of being involved in the pathogenesis of tissue injury in systemic vasculitis. We have investigated the effect of 10 sera from 8 patients with ANCA-associated diseases on the capacity of neutrophils derived from healthy persons to kill ingested Candida albicans. ANCA-containing sera inhibited candidacidal activity by 55-80% in comparison to control sera. This phenomenon could lead to the depression of antimicrobial resistance of patients with ANCA and could be involved in the pathogenesis of granuloma formation.