Ethanol Consumption Induces Nonspecific Inflammation and Functional Defects in Alveolar Macrophages.

ABSTRACT: Chronic alcohol drinking is associated with increased susceptibility to viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens. In this study, we use a rhesus macaque model of voluntary ethanol self-administration to study the effects of long-term alcohol drinking on the immunological landscape of the lung. We report a heightened inflammatory state in alveolar macrophages (AMs) obtained from ethanol (EtOH)-drinking animals that is accompanied by increased chromatin accessibility in intergenic regions that regulate inflammatory genes and contain binding motifs for transcription factors AP-1, IRF8, and NFKB p-65. In line with these transcriptional and epigenetic changes at the basal state, AMs from EtOH-drinking animals generate elevated inflammatory mediator responses to lipopolysaccharides and respirat

SUBMITTER: Lewis SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9273227 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature