Response of human mucociliary clearance to acute alcohol administration

To determine whether alcohol inhibits mucociliary clearance in humans, the clearance of deposited radiolabelled particles from the lung was measured in 12 volunteers. On one study day, immediately after inhalation of aerosol, the subject ingested ethyl alcohol (0.5 g/kg) in orange juice producing an average alcohol level at 1 hr of 68 +/- 8 mg/kl. On the other study day, orange juice alone was ingested. The initial deposition of aerosol and sequential measurements of lung retention were made during 4.7 hr and again at 24 hr using a gamma camera. Aerosol deposition patterns were reproducible within subjects. Group average percent bronchial retention during a 4.5-hr period was not significantly different between the control and the alcohol studies, but the variance in the alcohol studies during 0.5-4.5 hr was significantly greater (P less than .001). Comparison of data to a previous study group of matched control subjects confirmed an increased variability in clearance after alcohol. Thus, acute alcohol ingestion, at levels similar to those achieved during social drinking, alters mucociliary clearance, but direction and magnitude of the changes differ among individuals.