ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF INTERLEUKIN-2-ACTIVATED NATURAL-KILLER (NK1.1(-ALBICANS()) LYMPHOCYTES AGAINST CANDIDA)

Interleukin-2 (IL-2)-activated lymphocytes interact directly with, and inhibit, the growth of Candida albicans hyphae, C, albicans-stimulate d natural killer (NK1.1(+)) lymphocytes were demonstrated to secrete a soluble product capable of directly affecting C. albicans yeast forms . Antibodies specific for interferon-gamma completely eliminated the a ntifungal activity of the NK1.1(+) lymphocyte product and diminished t he antifungal activity of NK1,1(+) lymphocytes against C, albicans, An tibodies specific for other cytokines had no such effect. These data d emonstrate that C, albicans-stimulated NK1.1(+) lymphocytes have antif ungal activity against C, albicans yeast cells via the release of inte rferon-gamma, This antifungal activity was demonstrable only against t he yeast form of the fungus, with no effect on C, albicans hyphae.