FIG 4.

The presence of albumin during infection is essential for its protective effect. (A) Kidney cells were infected with C. albicans without albumin, with albumin present during infection, or with albumin present in the kidney cells medium only before the infection, and the LDH release was measured after 18 h. (B) Kidney cells were infected with C. albicans without albumin, with albumin present during infection, or with C. albicans that were preincubated with or without 10 mg/ml albumin for 1 h before infection, followed by removal of the protein. (C) CFU of C. albicans grown on the kidney cells conditioned in panel B. (D) LDH release of kidney cells that were infected with C. albicans, and albumin was added 0, 4, or 6 h after infection. Bars represent mean values and the SEM of n = 3 independent experiments. Significances were calculated using a paired, parametric, two-tailed Student t test (*, P ≤ 0.05; **, P ≤ 0.01).