Opposing Effects of Alcohol on the Immune System

They gave the participants four to five shots of vodka—enough to qualify as binge drinking. The researchers took blood samples from the participants three times after they reached peak intoxication. Twenty minutes after hitting their booze high, the participants’ immune systems were actually stronger than normal. They had higher counts of three white blood cells and more cytokines, special proteins that accompany immune activity.

Innate-like T lymphocytes

The association between genetically predicted levels of alcohol consumption and risk of common autoimmune inflammatory diseases. Although most research has focused on the effects of heavy alcohol consumption on the immune system, several studies have also confirmed that even moderate consumption can have significant effects on the immune system. For example, one study found that women who consumed 330 mL of beer for 30 days exhibited a significant increase in leukocytes, mature CD3+ T-cells, neutrophils, and basophils.

• Gaining a deeper comprehension of the interaction between EVs and alcohol holds the potential for enhanced personalized healthcare for individuals who partake in its consumption.
• Alcohol use, even single episodes, increases the risk of pneumonia by suppressing the immune system and allowing infection opportunities to take hold.
• Acute high dose exposures inhibit whereas long-term treatments stimulate proinflammatory cytokine production.
• Healthy habits, such as being active, eating a balanced diet, and getting enough sleep, can keep your immune system strong.
• In contrast, level of anti-inflammatory protein adiponectin increased (Joosten, van Erk et al. 2012).
• Treatment of THP1 monocytes with hepatocyte-derived exosomes containing miRNA-122 resulted in the delivery of mature miRNA-122, leading to the inhibition of the HO-1 pathway.

Modulation of Immunity by Nutritional Change in AUD

In addition, Jα18-/- mice (a knockout model deficient in iNKT cells) demonstrated significantly higher levels of total NK-cell count and IFN-γ release following alcohol exposure, while WT Twelve-step program mice exhibited a loss of total NK cells and IFN-γ. Likewise, iNKT-deficient Jα18-/- mice appeared relatively protected from hepatic steatosis, but if these mice were also depleted of their NK cells by using the anti-AsGM1 antibody, alcoholic liver injury steatosis was significantly aggravated. Further, hepatic IL-10 was significantly upregulated, but no changes in TGF-β or IL-4 were noted.

Natural killer T cells and invariant natural killer T cells

These micronutrients have been shown to play an important role in immune system homeostasis and response to infection (Mora, Iwata et al. 2008). Past research shows alcohol consumption leads to more severe lung diseases, like adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and other pulmonary diseases, including pneumonia, tuberculosis, and respiratory syncytial virus. The white blood cells had cleared out, and a new type of cytokines—ones that signal a decrease in immune activity—had appeared in the participants’ blood.

Table 1. Alcoholic condition with associated action and effects.

Additional studies are required to fully understand the role of ethanol metabolites and adducts in the development of alcoholic liver injury and organ damage. Though there’s still limited data on the link between alcohol and COVID-19, past evidence shows alcohol consumption can worsen the outcomes from other respiratory illnesses by damaging the lungs and gut, and impairing the cells responsible for immune function. NIAAA also includes a category for binge drinking — drinking a very large amount of alcohol in a short amount of time. While the actual definition is based on https://ecosoberhouse.com/ an individual’s change in blood alcohol levels, the NIAAA states that, in an average adult, drinking four or more drinks for women or five or more for men in two hours will typically be considered binge drinking. Factors such as the amount of alcohol a person drinks, how often a person drinks, the type of alcohol they drink, and whether they are biologically male or female can increase or decrease how much it affects their immune system.

• That misconception is rooted in a 1992 paper that found that moderate wine consumption protected French people against heart disease—even though their diet included plenty of meat, oil and butter.
• In patients with ALD, there is reduced IgG and IgG1 B cell levels in the blood and impaired T cell-dependent B cell response as opposed to T cell-independent B cell response 65,66.
• In summary, several in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that ethanol modulates the function of innate immune cells (monocytes and DCs) in a dose and time dependent manner (Figure 1).
• While it has been known for some time that alcohol use can make people more prone to infections, recent research has helped medical professionals better understand how this happens.
• Antigen-specific responses are decreased in folate-deficient humans and animals (Dhur, Galan et al. 1991).
• Additionally, the role of alcohol-induced changes in the microbiome on immunity should be studied.
• This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Here, alcohol can damage the epithelial cells, T-cells, and neutrophils in the GI tract, all of which can alter the gut barrier function and allow intestinal microorganisms to leak into circulation. The adaptive immune system can be further subdivided into cell-mediated immunity and humoral immunity. Whereas T-cells are primarily involved with cell-mediated immunity, B-cells play a major role in humoral immunity. Alcoholic beverages are energy dense and often become the primary energy source in those with AUD, leading to malnutrition. Individuals with AUD does alcohol suppress immune system are often deficient in one or more essential nutrients including vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, folate, and thiamine (Hoyumpa 1986).

• It seems that drinking alcohol may also damage the immune cells that line the intestines and serve as the first line of defense against bacteria and viruses.
• “The all-or-nothing approach is never a good idea,” Seija says, because while some people can go cold turkey, it’s unrealistic to demand that everyone who drinks should quit forever.
• If you know someone who is finding it difficult to stop or control their drinking, professional help is available.
• Schmidt et al. observed that alcoholic individuals are more susceptible and have higher mortality due to pneumonia than non-alcoholic individuals 39.
• The course and resolution of both bacterial and viral infections is severely impaired in alcohol-abusing patients, resulting in greater patient morbidity and mortality.

DCs uptake antigens in peripheral tissues which leads to their maturation, and then travel to draining lymph nodes where they present them to T cells (Janeway 2008). Similarly, consumption of 10% (w/v) ethanol in tap water ad libitum for 2 days in mice resulted in decreased bone marrow DC generation, decreased expression of CD80 and CD86, impaired induction of T cell proliferation, and a decrease in IL-12 production (Lau, Abe et al. 2006). Alcohol-fed animals showed that reduced T cell proliferation and altered CD4 and CD8 T cell counts were major reasons for pulmonary tuberculosis in infected animals 60. Animal studies reported that alcohol intoxication leads to suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-12 and interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ); however, this pro-inflammatory suppression due to alcohol mediated the increase in anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 61,62.