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Acute alcohol intoxication suppresses natural killer cell activity and promotes tumor metastasis

Nature Medicine volume 2, pages 457–460 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

Alcohol consumption is associated with increased morbidity and mortality related to infectious diseases and malignancy1–5, although immune mediation of these relationships is controversial. Specifically, the activity of natural killer (NK) cells, which are involved in the resistance to infections and metastasis, can be suppressed in the presence of ethanol in vitro. However, acute consumption or infusion of ethanol in vivo exerts no effects on NK activity assessed in vitro thereafter. Therefore, we have developed and used a method to study the effects of ethanol on NK activity in living rats by using an NK–sensitive metastatic process and selective depletion of NK cells in vivo. Acute ethanol intoxication caused a marked suppression of NK activity in vivo and a tenfold increase in the number of MADB106 tumor metastases. Ethanol had no effect in rats selectively depleted of NK cells or when an NK–insensitive tumor (C4047) was used. These findings suggest that even acute ethanol intoxication markedly suppresses NK activity in the living organism. This suppression may underlie some aspects of the association between alcoholism, infectious disease and malignancies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu

  2. College of Nursing, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 43210, USA

    Gayle G. Page

  3. Department of Psychology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Raz Yirmiya

  4. Department ofNeurobiology, UCLA School of Medicine and West Los Angeles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, 90095, USA

    Anna N. Taylor

Authors
  1. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu
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  2. Gayle G. Page
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  3. Raz Yirmiya
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  4. Anna N. Taylor
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Ben-Eliyahu, S., Page, G., Yirmiya, R. et al. Acute alcohol intoxication suppresses natural killer cell activity and promotes tumor metastasis. Nat Med 2, 457–460 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0496-457

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