Alcohol and immunology: Summary of the 2012 Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meeting.

Abstract

On October 27, 2012, the 17th annual Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meeting was held at the Grand Wailea Hotel in Maui, Hawaii as a satellite meeting to the 2012 Society of Leukocyte Biology conference. This year's meeting focused on the influence of alcohol on signal transduction pathways in various disease and injury models. Three plenary sessions were held where invited speakers shared their research on alcohol-mediated alterations of cell signaling components, immune cell subsets, and inflammation. These studies suggested alcohol has a negative effect on cell signaling machinery and immune cell homeostasis, resulting in disease, disease progression, and increased mortality. Researchers also identified tissue-specific alcohol-linked elevations in markers of inflammation, including cold-shock proteins and microRNAs. Additionally, one study revealed the effects of alcohol on immune cell subsets in a model of allergic asthma.

• Authors: Jill A Ippolito, Brenda J Curtis, Mashkoor A Choudhry, Elizabeth J Kovacs
• Journal: Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) (Alcohol) Vol. 47 Issue 8 Pg. 589-93 (Dec 2013) ISSN: 1873-6823 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 24169087 (Publication Type: Congress, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Ethanol

Topics

• Alcoholism (complications, immunology, metabolism, pathology)
• Animals
• Ethanol (pharmacology)
• Homeostasis (drug effects)
• Humans
• Inflammation (complications, immunology)
• Lymphocyte Subsets (drug effects)
• Signal Transduction (drug effects, immunology)