PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Frank, Kayla
AU  - Abeynaike, Shawn
AU  - Nikzad, Rana
AU  - Patel, Reesha R.
AU  - Roberts, Amanda J.
AU  - Roberto, Marisa
AU  - Paust, Silke
TI  - Alcohol dependence promotes systemic IFN-γ and IL-17 responses in mice
AID  - 10.1101/2020.09.03.280735
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.09.03.280735
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/03/2020.09.03.280735.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/03/2020.09.03.280735.full
AB  - Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. AUD is associated with a variety of physiological changes and is a substantial risk factor for numerous diseases. We aimed to characterize systemic alterations in immune responses using a mouse model of chronic intermittent alcohol exposure to induce alcohol dependence. We exposed mice to chronic intermittent ethanol vapor for 4 weeks and used multiparametric flow cytometry to analyze the expression of cytokines IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10, IL-12 and IL-17 by different immune cells in the blood, spleen and liver of alcohol dependent and non-dependent control mice. We found increases in IFN-γ and IL-17 expression in a cell type- and organ-specific manner. Often, B cells and neutrophils are primary contributors to increased IFN-γ and IL-17 levels while other cell types play a secondary role. We conclude that chronic alcohol exposure promotes systemic pro-inflammatory IFN-γ and IL-17 responses in mice. These responses are likely important in the development of alcohol-related diseases, but further characterization is necessary to understand the initiation and effects of systemic inflammatory responses to chronic alcohol exposure.