Effect of abrogation of natural killer cell activity on the course of candidiasis induced by intraperitoneal administration and gastrointestinal candidiasis in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency.

Candida albicans CFU per gram of tissue recovered from livers, spleens, and kidneys of 12 severe combined immunodeficiency (scid) and 12 BALB/c mice 5 days after intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of 10(7) C. albicans cells were not significantly different. Nine scid mice given normal rabbit serum (NRS) as a control and eight scid mice given anti-asialo-GM1 (alpha-ASGM1) had C. albicans CFU per gram recovered from livers and spleens 1 week after i.p. administration of C. albicans that were not significantly different, despite virtual elimination of natural killer (NK) cell activity in mice treated with alpha-ASGM1. At 2 weeks after i.p. administration, despite significantly increased NK cell activity in eight infected NRS-treated scid mice and virtual elimination of NK cell activity by alpha-ASGM1 treatment of eight scid mice, C. albicans CFU per gram recovered from livers and kidneys were not significantly different. At 2 weeks after intragastric administration of 2 x 10(6) C. albicans cells, eight NRS- and eight alpha-ASGM1-treated scid mice had identical proportions colonized with C. albicans and similar C. albicans CFU per gram recovered from feces. There was no evidence of hematogenous dissemination in either group. Similar results were seen 1 week after intragastric administration of 10(7) C. albicans cells. We conclude that NK cell activity is increased by i.p. administration of C. albicans in scid mice, but nontheless, abrogation of NK cell activity is not associated with enhanced susceptibility to candidiasis induced by i.p. administration and also is not associated with enhanced susceptibility to gastrointestinal colonization or hematogenous dissemination after intragastric administration of C. albicans.