title: Phagocytic and candidacidal activities of macrophages from suckling and adult mice pretreated with concanavalin-A.
abstract: In this study, we investigated the effect of concanavalin-A (Con-A) on the activation of phagocytosis and killing of Candida albicans by peritoneal macrophages from suckling and adult mice. Pretreatment of adult mice with Con-A dose-dependently increased the percentage of macrophages phagocytosing C. albicans in vitro from 3.8 +/- 0.9 to 24.2 +/- 2.4 in the absence of serum opsonins. Addition of mannan (50 microg) and mannose (50 mM) to the incubation medium reduced phagocytosis from 21.5 +/- 1.3 to 4.7 +/- 1.9, suggesting that treatment with Con-A increased phagocytosis mediated by mannose receptors. Killing of C. albicans was also increased by increasing the dose of Con-A. Pretreatment of suckling mice with Con-A increased the macrophages' phagocytic and candidacidal activities by an amount similar to that observed in adult mice. Furthermore, suckling mice pretreated with Con-A survived an intraperitoneal inoculum of 5 x 10(7) C. albicans, whereas all control mice died within 24-48 h of infection. This suggested that increased phagocytosis and killing of C. albicans stimulated by the action of Con-A conferred early protection upon suckling mice experimentally infected with C. albicans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Brazil.
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Moresco
authors.forename: L C J
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Gaziri
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yasumoto
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Felipe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology*; D037102:Lectins / Q000494:pharmacology; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D008262:Macrophage Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D000090323:Mannose Receptor; D037241:Mannose-Binding Lectins; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D000090323:Mannose Receptor; D037241:Mannose-Binding Lectins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D003208:Concanavalin A