Impaired immune response to Candida albicans in cells from Fanconi anemia patients

•Fanconi anemia (FA) cells show a defective response to Candida albicans.•C. albicans induce reduced production of IL-1β in FA compared to controls.•C. albicans do not induce production of TNF-α and IL-17 in FA cells.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genetic disorder characterized by bone marrow failure and cancer predisposition. Several studies show alterations of the immunological status of FA patients including defects in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets, serum immunoglobulin levels, and inflammatory cytokines. However scanty information is available on the response of FA cells to specific infectious antigens. In this work we examined the response of FA cells to different immunological stimuli and found a defective response of IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-17 to Candida albicans stimulation thus pointing to a potentially impaired response to fungal infections of FA patients.