title: Ethanol augments intracellular survival of Mycobacterium avium complex and impairs macrophage responses to cytokines.
abstract: Chronic ethanol ingestion predisposes to tuberculosis and bacterial pneumonia. Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) organisms cause bacteremia in patients with AIDS. Cultured human monocyte-derived macrophages and murine Kupffer cells were exposed to 10-100 micrograms/dl ethanol; significantly greater intracellular growth of MAC strains 100 (serovar 8) and 101 (serovar 1) occurred in ethanol-treated cells than in controls (range, 58% +/- 7%-70% +/- 5%; P less than .05 for 50 and 100 micrograms/dl ethanol vs. control). Both cell types, when treated with 10(3) units/ml recombinant tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or 10(2) units/ml granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in the presence of 10-100 micrograms/dl ethanol, killed significantly fewer MAC than controls (49% +/- 12% decrease for GM-CSF and 57% +/- 16% for TNF; P less than .05 for all comparisons). C57BL black mice infected intravenously with MAC strain 101 were given ethanol as 4% of total calories daily; after 21 days they had greater numbers of MAC in blood, liver, and spleen than controls. Ethanol's effects on the interaction between the host and MAC favor progressive infection.
authors.affiliation: Kuzell Institute for Arthritis and Infectious Diseases, San Francisco, CA 94115.
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Bermudez
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007728:Kupffer Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D015269:Mycobacterium avium Complex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D015270:Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection / Q000209:etiology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000431:Ethanol; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor