title: Flow cytometric analysis of lymphocyte subsets of mice maintained on an ethanol-containing liquid diet.
abstract: Alcoholic patients often have impaired immune function, yet little is known about the precise mechanism(s) of this impairment. We have previously shown that ethanol consumption by mice alters copolymer-specific humoral and cellular immune responses. In this study, we asked whether alcohol consumption by mice would phenotypically alter lymphocyte populations. Female C57BL/6 mice were fed a nutritionally complete liquid diet containing 35% ethanol-derived calories for up to 8 days. As controls, mice either were fed a liquid control diet that isocalorically substitutes sucrose for ethanol or remained on a standard solid diet and water ad libitum. Although mice fed ethanol-containing liquid or pair-fed control liquid diets have decreased numbers of spleen cells compared with solid diet controls, only the ethanol-containing diet allowed normally nonresponder C57BL/6 spleen cells to make antibody responses to the poly(Glu50Tyr50) synthetic copolymer antigen. Flow cytometric analysis of splenic lymphocyte populations of mice on the ethanol-containing diet shows an increase in the relative proportion of T-lymphocytes as compared with mice on either solid or liquid control diets. No such change is seen for either B-cell or natural killer cell populations in these same mice. Both liquid control and liquid ethanol diets caused a slight decrease in the CD4:CD8 ratios of splenic T-lymphocytes. We see the relative percentage of T-cells bearing the alpha beta T-cell receptor (TcR) increases in the spleens of liquid ethanol diet mice; a smaller increase TcR alpha beta usage is seen in the spleens of liquid control mice, compared with solid diet mice.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hsiung
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Waltenbaugh
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology; D011108:Polymers; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000032:analysis; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D010455:Peptides; D011108:Polymers; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; C020749:GAT; C027606:L-glutamic acid-L-tyrosine copolymer; D000431:Ethanol