Blood, 1960, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp. 830-839.
© 1960 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
Candida-Reacting Antibody in the Serum of Patients
with Lymphomas and Related Disorders
JEROME I. BRODY 1,
STUART C. FINCH 1, and
Bettina Mcilroy 1
1 Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New
Haven, Conn.
1. The quantity and characteristics of antibody reacting with Candida
albicans was determined in normal subjects and in patients with lymphomas
and leukemias by the immune-adherence technic.
2. Little antibody to Candida albicans is present in infants during the first
few months of neonatal life; a progressive increase in antibody occurs during
adolescence, and antibody is present in high titer in the serum of normal adults.
3. No significant decrease in antibody titer was found in the sera of patients
with advanced leukemia or lymphoma, most of whom had had extensive specific
therapy.
4. This antibody was characterized by lack of cross absorption with rice
starch polysaccharide, complete absorption with Candida albicans and by increased serum reactivity following active antigenic stimulation in rabbits.
5. It is apparent from this study that production of the "natural antibody"
of this type is maintained despite the progression of neoplastic disease and the
use of antineoplastic agents.
6. It is probable that alteration of tissue defense mechanisms rather than
humoral antibody account for the increased incidence of disseminated monilial
infections in patients with lymphomas and leukemias.
Submitted on August 7, 1959
Accepted on November 8, 1959
