Phagocytosis, oxidative burst, and killing of Candida dubliniensis and Candida albicans by human neutrophils

Candida dubliniensis is a phylogenetically closely related species to Candida albicans. So far virtually nothing is known about the virulence factors of C. dubliniensis. Cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) plays a critical role in adhesion of microorganisms to phagocytic cells, hydrophobic cells of C. albicans have been reported to be less sensitive to phagocytic killing than hydrophilic cells. C. dubliniensis displays CSH at 37 degrees C in contrast to C. albicans. To elucidate this issue, we determined levels of phagocytosis, oxidative burst and killing by human neutrophils of C. dubliniensis (n = 10) compared to C. albicans (n =10) both cultured at 37 degrees C. Obtained test results revealed no statistically significant differences between these two yeast species for the level of phagocytosis (77.3 vs. 76.2% after 60 min), evoked oxidative burst (64.5 vs. 67.3% after 30 min) and killing (72.7 vs. 73.1% after 240 min). Therefore: human neutrophils can be considered to be equally efficient against these two yeast species. (C) 2000 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.