Can Alcohol Affect the Immune System?

The key, according to Seija, is not to do Dry January can alcohol lower your immune system just to go binge drinking on February 1 but to perhaps find a new drinking pattern that feels comfortable and sustainable. Third, people can try out Dry January—whether that involves cutting back or quitting entirely. “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. “That’s where this idea of sober-ish comes to play.” This can involve having alcohol-free days, ordering fewer drinks or turning to nonalcoholic beverages as a way to preserve the social benefits of drinking. While it is technically true that no level of alcohol is risk-free, neither are many daily activities, from driving to eating bacon.

• Similarly, vitamin C, also an antioxidant, is important for phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes, and enhances T cell responses (Strohle and Hahn 2009).
• Similarly, an increased percentage of CD8 T cells expressing HLA-DR and CD57 was reported in the group of male alcoholics with self reported average alcohol consumption of approximately 400g/day for approximately 26 years (Cook, Ballas et al. 1995).
• Overconsumption of alcohol can cause alcoholic liver disease (ALD), a type of liver damage resulting from alcohol intake.
• In addition, the magnitude of antibody response following vaccination with Hepatitis B is lower in alcoholics compared to controls (Nalpas, Thepot et al. 1993).
• Ethanol administration (4g/kg) in male rats increased IL-6 but decreased TNF-α expression in PVN, an effect that was blunted or reversed after long-term ethanol self-administration (Doremus-Fitzwater, Buck et al. 2014).

Ethanol Metabolism

TLRs, NLRs, and helicase receptors are expressed on innate immune cells as well as on the functional cells (i.e., parenchymal cells) in most organs; however, activation of pattern recognition receptors triggers proinflammatory cytokine induction most robustly in the immune cells. In conclusion, understanding the impact of alcohol consumption on your immune system is essential for maintaining optimal health. By being aware of the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol on your immune system, gut health, and autoimmune conditions, you can make informed decisions about your alcohol consumption. Embracing strategies for protecting your immune system, such as consuming a balanced diet, engaging in non-alcoholic activities, and seeking professional help when needed, will help you maintain a healthy immune system and overall well-being.

How can I incorporate fermented foods into my meals?

• Among the stalls, jars of kimchi, sauerkraut, and kombucha catch your eye, each promising a range of health benefits.
• This is a long way of saying, alcohol is hard on your immune system, and over time, its effects are harder to deal with.
• Specifically, 24 hours of exposure to both low (1mM) and high (5mM) concentrations of acetaldehyde stimulate IL-6 secretion, however, 7 days of exposure to the high concentration of acetaldehyde, significantly decrease IL-6 secretion (Sarc, Wraber et al. 2011).

Chronic alcohol exposure also interferes with the normal functioning of all aspects of the adaptive immune response, including both cell-mediated and humoral responses. All of these effects enhance the susceptibility of chronic alcoholics to viral and bacterial infections and to sterile inflammation. Studies over the last 30 years have clearly demonstrated that chronic ethanol abuse impairs the functions of both T cells and B cells. Chronic alcohol consumption results in lymphopenia with a loss in circulating T cells and B cells.

Digestive issues and gut health problems

But even low amounts of daily drinking and prolonged and heavy use of alcohol can lead to significant problems for your digestive system. But there’s plenty of research to back up the notion that alcohol does lead to weight gain in general. “Some people think of the effects of alcohol as only something to be worried about if you’re living with alcohol use disorder, which was formerly called alcoholism,” Dr. Sengupta says. When it’s busy handling alcohol, it has less energy and resources to support immunity, potentially leaving the body more vulnerable to infections.

Gut barrier damage can make the body more vulnerable to food poisoning, and epithelial cell damage can hinder the intestines’ ability to absorb nutrients. When the gut barrier cannot function properly, harmful bacteria can leak into the bloodstream, leading to further complications. Alcohol also reduces sleep quality, which increases a person’s chances of getting sick and recovering from illnesses.

How Alcohol Affects the Immune System

If your body is constantly working on getting rid of the alcohol, it may fail to notice new problems coming in the door. So when it comes to alcohol and immune system function, you could run into some potential problems. You can benefit from our inpatient program, which helps you overcome your withdrawal symptoms and teaches you healthy coping strategies to deal with alcohol cravings.

Health Conditions

For example, a 2018 study found that light drinkers (those consuming one to three drinks per week) had lower rates of cancer or death than those drinking less than one drink per week or none at all. And not so long ago there was general consensus that drinking in moderation also came with health advantages, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Current alcoholic beverage labels in the US warn of the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol, adverse effects on general health, and risks for a developing fetus — but there’s no mention of cancer. For millions of people, it’s a regular part of the dining experience, social and sports events, celebrations, and milestones. And the alcoholic beverage industry is a major economic force, responsible for more than $250 billion in sales annually in the US. Alcohol can have a range of harmful effects on the body, which can diminish a person’s immune response and put them more at risk for COVID-19.

These changes in turn compromise the organism’s ability to respond to pathogens and contribute to increased susceptibility to infections. It also disrupts metabolism by affecting blood sugar levels, leading to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. A study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that alcohol consumption slows fat-burning processes, making it easier for excess weight Substance abuse to accumulate. Studies show that excessive drinking increases the risk of metabolic disorders such as diabetes and fatty liver disease. Multiple studies, including those by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), have classified alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen.

Another study (Rosman et al. 1997) demonstrated that the impaired antibody response in alcoholic patients (i.e., with consumption levels of 230 ± 16 g/day ethanol for 26.4 ± 1.8 years) can be improved by doubling the dose of HepB vaccine from 10 μg to 20 μg at 0, 1, and 6 months. Thus, mice that were chronically fed ethanol generated a weaker antibody response following vaccination with HCV compared with control mice (Encke and Wands 2000). Abstinence partially restored antibody responses against hepatitis antigens in a mouse model (Encke and Wands 2000). Alcohol can modulate the activities of all of these cell populations by affecting the frequency, survival, and function of most of these cells, thereby interfering with pivotal immune responses.

A single miRNA can target hundreds of mRNA transcripts, and a single mRNA transcript simultaneously can be targeted by more than one miRNA, ensuring fine-tuned and/or redundant control over a large number of biological functions. Epigenetic modifications are chemical changes that occur within a genome without changing the DNA sequence. These changes include direct addition of a methyl group to DNA (i.e., DNA methylation) or chemical modifications of the proteins (i.e., histones) around which DNA is wrapped, such as acetylation, methylation, and phosphorylation (Holliday 2006; Hsieh and Gage 2005; Murrell et al. 2005). Both regulatory mechanisms related to miRNA and epigenetic mechanisms are interrelated (see figure 3).