Concomitant Endocrine and Immune Alterations during Alcohol Intoxication and Acute Withdrawal in Alcohol-Dependent Subjects

Abstract

Although both alcohol intoxication and withdrawal have been demonstrated to produce significant endocrine alterations, no data exist on the effects of acute withdrawal on immune functions. Therefore, the current study investigated the effect of alcohol intoxication and acute withdrawal on plasma cortisol, prolactin and catecholamines, and blood leukocyte subset distribution in alcohol-dependent subjects. Nine male alcoholics admitted to the university clinic for alcohol dependence and 9 age-matched controls participated in the study. Blood was drawn from the alcohol-dependent subjects at 10:30 a.m. on day 0 (chronic alcohol intoxication), at the same time during acute alcohol withdrawal (day 1) and following the resolution of acute withdrawal (day 7). Blood was drawn from age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects at the corresponding time points. Plasma was then analyzed for hormone concentrations and blood examined for leukocyte subsets by flow cytometry. Alcohol-dependent patients displayed significantly elevated plasma cortisol during intoxication and withdrawal, which decreased to control levels following resolution of acute withdrawal. Small elevations of plasma prolactin and catecholamines were also observed during intoxication. Furthermore, alcohol-dependent subjects showed reduced absolute numbers of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells and natural killer cells compared with healthy controls across all time points. In contrast, although monocyte numbers were lower in alcohol-dependent patients during intoxication, acute alcohol withdrawal increased the number of monocytes in patients. Thus, alcohol dependence produces a general suppression of leukocyte subset populations in blood. However, resolution of acute alcohol withdrawal is associated with a return of plasma cortisol to control levels, and a concomitant increase in peripheral blood monocyte numbers.