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In 14 practically healthy donors, 22 patients with chronic candidiasis of the skin and mucosa (CCSM) and 14 patients with chronic candidal vulvovaginitis (CCW) immunoregulating factors synthesized by peripheral blood lymphocytes under the conditions of in vitro induction of suppressor cells were studied in comparison with the proliferative response to PHA and Candida albicans cytoplasmic protein. In practically healthy donors the level of lymphocyte response to mitogen coincided with the presence of the inhibiting activity of supernatants. In a more severe form of Candida infection (CCSM) the proliferative reaction of lymphocytes to both PHA and C.albicans antigen was weakened or even inhibited. The level of the proliferative response of lymphocytes was inversely proportional to the immunoregulating activity of cells, nonstimulated and stimulated with ConA and C.albicans cytoplasmic protein. In CCW lymphocytes exhibited good proliferative response to T-mitogen, occurring in combination with weak reaction, or no reaction at all, to C.albicans antigen. A decrease in the level of spontaneous blast transformation was accompanied by an increase in spontaneous suppressor activity.

Conditions and factors influencing the formation of delayed hypersensitivity (DH) to yeast-like fungi of the species C. albicans under experimental conditions have been studied. The intensity of this reaction has been found to depend on the dose and method used for infecting mice, the time of the test and the qualitative state of fungal cells. As the result of this study, the infectious model of DH to C. albicans has been proposed. This model may be used for the study of the influence of different exogenous and endogenous factors of cell-mediated immune response to candidiasis.