[Interaction of Candida albicans with macrophages]. / Vzaimodeistvie Candida albicans s makrofagami.

Study of the in vitro interaction of mouse peritoneal macrophages with C. albicans has revealed that these macrophages, though easily phagocytizing C. albicans blastospores, are incapable of destroying the fungus. The phagocytic, but not candidostatic, activity of these macrophages has been found to depend on the conditions on their cultivation, as well as on the age and viability of fungal cells. The representatives of 7 C. albicans strains, obtained from various sources and stored at the museum for different spans of time, have shown practically no difference in the character of their interaction with mouse peritoneal macrophages.

[Immune system function in candidiasis patients]. / Sostoianie immunnoi sistemy u bol'nykh kandidiozom.

To compare the clinical picture and the immunological characteristics, 58 candidiasis patients differing by the severity and dissemination of the disease were examined. Chronic candidiasis of the skin and mucous membranes, the most severe and disseminated form of the disease, is associated with a decrease in the number of T-lymphocytes and changes in their subpopulations, as well as high titers of Candida albicans antigen and antibodies to it in blood sera. The immune system of patients with visceral candidiasis and chronic vulvovaginal candidiasis was similar to that of healthy persons in the characteristics under study. Immediate and mixed hypersensitivity occurred in candidiasis patients more frequently than in healthy persons. In extremely severe forms of Candida infection immediate hypersensitivity prevailed.

[Nature of the restructuring of the T- and B-immunity systems in patients with cutaneous and visceral candidiasis]. / Kharakter perestroiki T- i B-sistem immuniteta u bol'nykh poverkhnostnym i vistseral'nym kandidozom.

The examination of 90 patients with superficial and visceral candidiasis, as well as Candida carriers, has revealed that the heavy contamination of the body with fungi of the genus Candida is accompanied by the specific transformation of the immune system, manifested by differences in the character of sensitization to Candida antigens: in the patients with superficial and visceral candidiasis the B-system of immunity is sensitized to a greater degree, while in the Candida carriers the sensitization of the T-system is more pronounced. Despite the fact that the immune system of patients with the disseminated form of visceral candidiasis is capable of developing the delayed hypersensitivity (DH) reaction to bacterial allergens, such patients have been shown to develop DH to Candida antigens only in rare cases. This is probably due to disturbances in their immunocompetent systems, caused, seemingly, by the secondary immune insufficiency.

[T- and B-immunity system indices in candidiasis]. / Nekotorye pokazateli T- i B-sistem immuniteta u bol'nykh kandidozom.

The examination of 73 patients with superficial and visceral candidiasis and Candida-carriers yielded no data to the effect that the increased activity of opportunistic fungi of the genus Candida in the body was preceded by organic lesions in the T- and B-systems of lymphocytes. Only in 16 patients who had visceral candidiasis for 8-12 years with combined lesions of several organs the decreased capacity of lymphocytes for reacting with phytohemagglutinin was observed, which was probably a manifestation of the secondary immune insufficiency, developing in the presence of prolonged infection.