Alcohol-induced changes in the immune response: immunological effects of chronic ethanol intake are genetically regulated.
Experimental evidence on the immunomodulating effects of ethanol is contradictory and, in animals, the immunological effects of long-term alcohol intake may depend on the age of animal, amount of alcohol consumed, and nutritional composition of the administered diet. In this study, immunological effects of pair-feeding a 35% ethanol-containing Bio-Serv liquid diet for 6 weeks were evaluated using two major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-compatible inbred strains of rats (F344 and LEW). Food intake, rate of gain in body weight, and percentages of B cells, T cells, and T cell subtypes were not affected by ethanol intake. Also, proliferative responses of lymphocytes to T and B cell mitogens were similar in control and ethanol-fed groups of the two strains. Ethanol consumption had no significant influence on spleen weights and the antibody plaque-forming cell (PFC) response in F344 rats; however, in LEW rats, ethanol ingestion leads to a significant decrease (about 16%; p < 0.012) in spleen weight and a > 75% reduction in the PFC response. These results suggest that a non-MHC-encoded gene(s) regulates the ethanol-mediated immunosuppression of the PFC response. Thus, LEW-F344 combination may provide an excellent model to characterize genetic factors which determine sensitivity/resistance to immunological effects of ethanol ingestion.
Razani-Boroujerdi
S
S
Immunotoxicology Section, Lovelace Institutes, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108.
Savage
S M
SM
Sopori
M L
ML
D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005796:Genes; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000187:drug effects*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
D000431:Ethanol; D003345:Corticosterone