Generation of superoxide anion and candidacidal activity by lipopolysaccharide-treated macrophages from patients affected by neoplasia.

Macrophages, derived from in vitro cultured monocytes from both healthy donors and patients affected by metastatic breast cancer, treated or not with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS), were tested for phagocytosis and intracellular killing of Candida albicans and superoxide anion release. We found a marked impairment in intracellular killing closely linked to the lack of superoxide production in macrophages from patients affected by neoplasia treated or not with LPS. On the other hand, the LPS treatment significantly enhanced the phagocytic activity of all the macrophage populations tested, except for phagocytes obtained from patients affected by neoplasia and differentiated in autologous serum.