Comparison of interferon-gamma, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, andgranulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor for priming leukocyte-mediated hyphal damage of opportunistic fungal pathogens

Proinflammatory cytokines have been proposed as adjunctive therapeutic agen ts to enhance the host immune response during infections caused by opportun istic fungi. The study compared the differential in vitro priming effects o f interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma),granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GMCSF) on hyphal d amage of opportunistic fungi mediated by isolated neutrophils (polymorphonu clear leukocytes, PMNL) and buffy coat cells (polymorphonuclear leukocytes/ peripheral blood mononuclear cells, PMNL/PBMC) from healthy donors, IFN-gam ma (1000 U/mL) effectively primed both PMNL and PMNL/PBMC for enhanced hyph al damage of Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium-solani, and Candida albicans, G-CSF (100 ng/mL) increased hyphal damage mediated by both PMNL and PMNL/PB MC against F. solani, and GM-CSF (100 ng/mL) augmented the antifungal activ ity of PMNL/PBMC against hyphal forms of both F:solani and C. albicans. IFN -gamma may be superior to G-CSF or GM-CSF for enhancing the microbicidal ac tivity of PMNL and PMNL/PBMC against opportunistic fungi.