Cell-mediated immune responses associated with short term alcohol intake: time course and dose dependency

Using a rat model, we report here the duration of heavy drinking necessary to produce immunosuppression, the recovery time after such alcohol-induced immunosuppression, and the variations in immune response associated with varied amounts of alcohol consumption. Immune status was evaluated by means of delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity (DCH)-like responses to phytohemagglutinin. The daily consumption of 5 g of ethanol/kg body weight/d resulted in a prompt reduction in DCH-like responses which was significant by Day 3 (p = 0.03) and maximal by Day 11 (45% of baseline). These data were consistent with a similar reduction of migration inhibitory factor activity in spleen cells from ethanol fed rats. Cessation of ethanol resulted in a return to baseline within 4 days. In a second experiment ethanol was administered daily in doses ranging from 0.5 to 6.0 g/kg. Early (Day 5) low dose ethanol (0.5-2 g/kg) stimulated immune response (153-188% of baseline) while high dose (6.0 g/kg) suppressed (79% of baseline). Continued treatments resulted in a loss of stimulation at low dose and increased suppression at higher doses. The relationship of these animal studies to human binge drinking and the possible risk for infection in the alcoholic remains to be established.