In utero exposure to ethanol affects postnatal development of T- and B-lymphocytes, but not natural killer cells.
The effect of intrauterine exposure to ethanol on lymphocyte development in the neonatal period was studied in C57BI/6J mice. Mice were bred, and then the female mice were assigned to 1 of 3 diet groups, 25% ethanol-derived calories (EDC), pair-fed control, or ad libitum laboratory chow. At birth, all offspring were cross-fostered to surrogate mothers who had been fed laboratory chow. At weekly intervals, the neonatal mice were weighed, and 4 mice from each group were used to assess the development of splenic lymphocytes. The total number of splenocytes was similar in all three groups at each sampling. The number of T-cells, B-cells, and natural killer (NK) cells was measured by flow cytometry. T-cells and NK cells did not vary significantly among the three diet groups. However, the total number of B-cells was decreased for the first 3 weeks of life in the ethanol-exposed animals. The function of the T-cells and B-cells was determined by assessing the response to lipopolysaccharide, pokeweed mitogen, phytohemagglutinin, and concanavalin A. The response to all four mitogens was significantly reduced in the ethanol-exposed animals and did not recover to control levels until 4-5 weeks of life. Ethanol exposure had no significant effect on the kinetics of acquisition of NK lytic function, as assessed by determining the killing of chromium-51 labeled YAC-1 tumor target cells. These data show that prenatal exposure to ethanol causes a transient immunodeficiency in some, but not all compartments of the immune system.
Wolcott
R M
RM
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Medical Center-Shreveport 71130-3932, USA.
Jennings
S R
SR
Chervenak
R
R
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000276:immunology*; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D007942:Leukemia, Experimental; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*