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Infection and Immunity, January 1999, p. 94-101, Vol. 67, No. 1
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Effect of Melanin and Carotenoids of Exophiala (Wangiella) dermatitidis on Phagocytosis, Oxidative Burst, and Killing by Human Neutrophils

Norbert Schnitzler,1,2 Heidrun Peltroche-Llacsahuanga,2 Nicole Bestier,1 Josef Zündorf,3 Rudolf Lütticken,1,2 and Gerhard Haase2,*

Institute of Medical Immunology,1 Institute of Medical Microbiology,2 and Department of Anesthesiology,3 University Hospital RWTH Aachen, D-52057 Aachen, Germany

Received 26 February 1998/Returned for modification 20 April 1998/Accepted 1 October 1998

The black yeast Exophiala (Wangiella) dermatitidis is an increasingly recognized pathogen and a leading cause of severe pheohyphomycosis. Melanin is thought to contribute to the virulence of E. dermatitidis. Whereas the synthesis and the redox properties of melanin have been studied intensively, the influence of melanin and carotenoids on the phagocytosis, the oxidative burst, and the killing of E. dermatitidis by human neutrophils has not been studied. To study their effects on these phenomena, we applied a combination of flow cytometry and a colony-count-dependent method. Using E. dermatitidis wild-type strain 8565 and several melanin-deficient mutants that have been described previously, we demonstrate that melanin prevents this pathogen from being killed in the phagolysosome of the neutrophils. Melanin did not influence the phagocytosis or the oxidative burst of the neutrophils involved. The carotenoids torulene and torularhodine were not found to contribute to the prevention of killing. The ability of E. dermatitidis to block the effects of the neutrophil oxidative burst may critically impair the potential of the host to sufficiently eliminate this fungal pathogen and thus may play an important role in the pathogenesis of phaeohyphomycosis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital, Pauwelsstrasse 30, D-52057 Aachen, Germany. Phone: 49-241-8089-515. Fax: 49-241-8888-483. E-mail: haase{at}amsd.imib.rwth-aachen.de.

Infection and Immunity, January 1999, p. 94-101, Vol. 67, No. 1
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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