A chromium release assay for phagocytic killing of Candida albicans

Abstract

Intracellular killing of Candida albicans was measured by a chromium release technique. Appropriate conditons were equal numbers of polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) and 51Chromium labelled C. albicans (10 6/ml), fresh plasma at a final concentration of 2.5%, incubated at 37degreesC for 60 min. Using normal PMNs, 35-71% of releasable chromium was liberated into the supernatant under these conditions. This assay is easy to perform, requires a small amount of blood and offers and objective measurement of intracellular killing of C. albicans.