A 2020 study found that when weekly drinkers were presented with and aware of increased non-alcoholic options, they were likely to choose them. Every person has their own reasons for drinking or wanting to reduce their alcohol consumption. Depending on how much you have been drinking, your body may experience physical and psychological changes as you reduce your intake, known as withdrawal. According to the 2019 National Survey does alcohol suppress immune system on Drug Use and Health from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 69.5% of people in the United States reported drinking within the last year. 25.8% of people classified their recent consumption habits as binge drinking (excessive drinking in a defined amount of time). “We’re dealing with brain immune cells, which appear to respond to alcohol differently from blood immune cells,” says Hutchinson.

• Many plants in the woods make phytoncides and other substances you breathe in that seem to bolster your immune function.
• In addition to psychotherapy, treatment can also include nutritional supplements and dietary guidance, as well as certain medications.
• Chronic alcohol abuse leads to increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections, most notably a 3 to 7-fold increase in susceptibility (Schmidt and De Lint 1972) and severity (Saitz, Ghali et al. 1997) of bacterial pneumonia compared with control subjects.

As reviewed by Szabo and Saha, alcohol’s combined effects on both innate and adaptive immunity significantly weaken host defenses, predisposing chronic drinkers to a wide range of health problems, including infections and systemic inflammation. Alcohol’s widespread effects on immune function also are underscored in the article by Gauthier, which examines how in utero alcohol exposure interferes with the developing immune system in the fetus. This exposure increases a newborn’s risk of infection and disease; additional evidence suggests that alcohol’s deleterious effects on immune development last into adulthood. Numerous analyses also have evaluated the effects of ethanol exposure on the development of B cells. As described above for thymopoiesis, the offspring of pregnant mice that from gestational day 1 to day 18 consumed a liquid diet in which 25 percent of calories were derived from ethanol exhibited decreased numbers of both immature and mature B cells in the spleens directly after birth.

Excessive alcohol use weakens the immune system

Acute and chronic alcohol abuse can interfere with the actions of these cells at various levels. The first line of host defense involves both structural (i.e., epithelial) cells and immune cells (i.e., macrophages and dendritic cells) at mucosal surfaces. The epithelial cells function as a physical barrier as well as regulators of the innate and adaptive immunity. Particularly important are the epithelial immune barriers of the reproductive, GI, and respiratory tracts. Several lines of evidence suggest that alcohol abuse significantly disrupts the GI and respiratory tract immune barriers. Such studies can be challenging to conduct in humans because of difficulties in obtaining accurate medical histories, maintaining adherence, confounding factors such as diet, sleep-wake cycles, and ethical considerations when studying large doses of ethanol.

In contrast to these observations, moderate consumption of beer (330mL for women and 660mL for men) for 30 days resulted in a significant increase in the number of leukocytes, mature CD3+ T lymphocytes, neutrophils and basophils in women, while only basophils were increased in men (Romeo, Warnberg et al. 2007). Acetaldehyde is the toxic byproduct that contributes to tissue damage, alcohol dependence, and addiction (Zakhari 2006). It can also bind to other proteins to form adducts, such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and MDA-acetaldehyde (MAA), which play a key role in the development of liver injury and stimulate antibody responses that further promote liver inflammation and fibrosis (Tuma and Casey 2003). In addition, oxidation of ethanol by CYP2E1 leads to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Is Any Amount of Alcohol Good for the Immune System?

This phenomenon was not observed in a TLR4 mutant mouse, indicating that the acute phase response is mediated by TLR4 (Pruett and Pruett 2006). Another aspect of cell-mediated immunity that is affected by ethanol consumption is the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response. DTH refers to a cutaneous T-cell–mediated inflammatory reaction that takes 2 to 3 days to develop. One early study (Lundy et al. 1975) showed defects in cell-mediated immunity in male alcoholic patients admitted for detoxification, in response both to a new antigen and to an antigen to which they had previously been exposed. A more recent study (Smith et al. 2004) reported that a negative correlation existed between the amount of alcohol consumed by the participants and the size of DTH skin test responses to a specific antigen (i.e., keyhole limpet hemocyanin).

Alcohol also disrupts how these microorganisms communicate with each other, which can change how long it takes to digest food and how effective your gut is at absorbing all available nutrients. With these conditions, you’ll only notice symptoms during alcohol intoxication or withdrawal. Long-term alcohol use can affect bone density, leading to thinner bones and increasing your risk of fractures if you fall.

Circulating Factors

Moreover, these B-cell subpopulations did not recover to normal levels until 3 to 4 weeks of life (Moscatello et al. 1999; Wolcott et al. 1995). Other studies were conducted using a precursor cell type called oligoclonal-neonatal-progenitor (ONP) cells, which in vitro can differentiate either into B lymphocytes or into other white and red blood cells (i.e., myeloid cells), depending on the cytokines to which they are exposed. Similarly, ONP cells isolated from newborn mice and cultured in vitro in the presence of 100 mM ethanol for 12 days failed to respond to IL-7 and commit to the B lineage, suggesting intrinsic defects (Wang et al. 2011). Additional investigations demonstrated that alcohol affects ONP cell differentiation into B lineage at a late stage by down-regulating the expression of several transcription factors (e.g., EBF and PAX5) and cytokine receptors, such as the IL-7 receptor (IL-7Ra) (Wang et al. 2009). Few studies have investigated the effects of alcohol abuse on complement activation and its relationship with the incidence and severity of infection; instead, the focus of studies on alcohol-induced alterations in complement has been on liver injury (Pritchard et al. 2008).

• It’s important to remember that alcohol can prevent the absorption of nutrients that your body needs, and a balanced diet can improve your immune system and overall health.
• Moreover, immune systems of several nonhuman primate species are similar to those of humans and these animals are susceptible to several clinically important pathogens making them a valuable model to study the impact of ethanol on immunity (Hein and Griebel 2003).
• However, chronic and heavy alcohol consumption can lead to fewer T cells and B cells.

2 Opsonization is a process by which a pathogen or other antigen is covered with antibodies and thereby marked for ingestion and destruction by other immune cells (i.e., phagocytic cells). Tolerance and dependence can both happen as symptoms of alcohol use disorder, a mental health condition previously referred to as alcoholism, that happens when your body becomes dependent on alcohol. This condition can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the number of symptoms you have. Regular drinking can also affect overall mental health and well-being, in part because alcohol may worsen symptoms of certain mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. People who drink heavily over a long period of time are also more likely to develop pneumonia or tuberculosis than the general population.