Phagocytosis is a critical function of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the control of mycotic infections. By using a modified fluorescence quenching assay to distinguish between attached and ingested organisms, we determined the percent phagocytosis of several medically important yeasts. The percentages of phagocytosis of serum-opsonized Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosi...

OBJECTIVES Deficient efferocytosis (i.e. phagocytic clearance of apoptotic cells) has been frequently reported in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Todate, patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) have not been assessed for phagocytosis of apoptotic cells (ApoCell-phagocytosis) and of particulate targets (microbeads, MB-phagocytosis). DESIGN ApoCell-phagocytosis and MB-phagocytosis wer...

Intact normal human leukocytes deiodinated L-thyroxine (T(4)) with the generation of inorganic iodide, chromatographically immobile origin material, and small quantities of L-triiodothyronine (T(3)). When phagocytosis was induced in the leukocytes through the addition of zymosan particles that had been opsonized by coating with plasma, T(4)-deiodination was greatly stimulated. In addition to th...

A specific serum factor was required for rapid phagocytosis of pathogenic staphylococci by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes when the ingestion process was studied in siliconed glass systems and the concentrations of staphylococci were maintained at low levels. In contrast to certain other microbes, the resistance to phagocytosis which characterized pathogenic staphylococci was relative, and p...