Different tumor necrosis factor α antagonists have different effects on host susceptibility to disseminated and oropharyngeal candidiasis in mice

Tumor necrosis factor alpha is important for the host defense against intracellular pathogens. We tested the effect of mouse analogs of human TNF-alpha antagonists, the rat anti-mouse TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody (XT22) and the soluble mouse 75 kDa TNF-alpha receptor fused to the Fc portion of mouse IgG1 (p75-Fc), on the susceptibility of mice to hematogenously disseminated candidiasis (HDC) and oropharyngeal candidiasis (OP C). Both XT22 and p75-Fc significantly reduced mice survival, increased kidney fungal burden, and reduced leukocyte recruitment during HDC. However, only XT22 significantly increased the oral fungal burden and reduced leukocyte recruitment during OP C. This result suggests that XT22 and p75-Fc affect host susceptibility to different types of Candida albicans infections by different inhibitory mechanisms.