INHIBITION OF INTRACELLULAR GROWTH OF HISTOPLASMA-CAPSULATUM YEAST-CELLS BY CYTOKINE-ACTIVATED HUMAN MONOCYTES AND MACROPHAGES

Human monocytes/macrophages (M-PHI) were infected with Histoplasma capsulatum yeast cells, and intracellular growth was quantified after 24 h of incubation in medium alone or in medium containing cytokines. Yeast cells multiplied within freshly isolated monocytes, cultured M-phi, and alveolar M-phi with intracellular generation times of 14.2 +/- 1.4, 18.5 +/- 2.1, and 19.9 +/- 1.9 h (mean +/- standard error of the mean), respectively. Monocytes and M-PHI inhibited the intracellular growth of yeast cells in response to cytokine supernatant; maximum inhibition was obtained when cytokines were added to cell monolayers immediately after infection. Opsonization of yeast cells in normal serum or in H. capsulatum-immune serum did not affect the intracellular generation time of yeast cells in either control M-PHI or cytokine-activated M-PHI.