Heterogeneous Secretory Response of Phagocytes from Different Anatomical Districts to the Dimorphic Fungus Candida albicans

In the present study, we have examined the ability of phagocytes from different anatomical districts to discriminate between the two morphogenetic forms of Candida albicans. We have demonstrated that resident peritoneal macrophages (RP-Mφ) and thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal macrophages (TP-Mφ) were able to distinguish between the hyphal (H-Candida) and the yeast (Y-Candida) form of the fungus, since TNF production was observed only upon exposure of RP-Mφ and TP-Mφ to H-Candida. In contrast, splenic macrophages (S-Mφ), bone marrow-derived macrophages (BM-Mφ) and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) did not discriminate between the two forms because S-Mφ and PMN produced TNF regardless of the morphogenetic status of the fungus, while BM-Mφ did not. Under the same experimental conditions, we failed to observe IL-1 production from any of the phagocytic cell populations examined, with the exception of PMN. This implies that the interaction between phagocytes and C. albicans triggers differential secretory responses depending upon the morphogenetic status of the fungus and the anatomical localization of the immune cells.