title: Wide array of T-cell subpopulation alterations in patients with alcohol use disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol abuse impacts innate and adaptive immunity and predisposes to infections. However, prevalence and correlations of cellular immune alterations in large case series is underreported. We aimed to analyze quantitative alterations of T-lymphocyte subpopulations in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD).
  
  
  METHODS
  cross-sectional study in patients admitted for detoxification between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2012. Socio-demographic and alcohol use characteristics and blood samples for biochemistry, hematology and immune phenotype was obtained at admission.
  
  
  RESULTS
  238 patients (79.8%M) were eligible; age at admission was 43 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 38-51 years), the amount of alcohol consumption was 180 g/day (IQR: 120-200 g/day) and median duration of AUD was 18 years (IQR: 9-25 years). Compared to healthy individuals, 50% of patients had significantly fewer double-negative (DN) T-lymphocytes (<34 × 10(9)/L) and 23% had more double-positive (DP) T-cells (>52 × 10(9)/L). In addition, 24% of patients had high number of CD8(+) cells (>735 × 10(9)/L) and 13% had low CD4(+) cell counts (<600 × 10(9)/L). In multivariable analysis, age, sex, serum albumin, and current cocaine use were predictors of T-cell subpopulation alterations. Women were three-times (OR=3.5, 95%CI:1.3-9.5) more likely to present with higher DP T-lymphocytes than men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Quantitative alterations of T-cell subpopulations are frequent in patients seeking treatment of AUD. Assessment of cellular immunity in this population may help to identify those at increased risk of immune alterations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zuluaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Arantza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanvisens
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Aina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teniente
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fuster
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tor
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez-Cáceres
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain. Electronic address: rmuga.germanstrias@gencat.cat.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muga
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000187:drug effects*
keywords: Alcohol use disorder; Immunity; T-lymphocytes