Alcohol-Induced Changes in the Immune Response: Immunological Effects of Chronic Ethanol Intake Are Genetically Regulated

Abstract

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.