Alcohol Abuse, the Alveolar Macrophage and Pneumonia
Open accessAbstract
Alcohol use, and misuse, has been a part of human culture for thousands of years. In the modern medical era, a great deal of attention has been justifiably focused on elucidating the mechanisms underlying the psychological and biological addiction to alcohol. However, a significant percentage, if not the majority, of alcohol-related morbidity and mortality occurs in individuals who do not meet the formal diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders. For example, many serious medical consequences of chronic alcohol ingestion can occur in individuals who do not have signs or symptoms of alcohol dependence. There is now clear evidence that even in otherwise healthy-appearing individuals who chronically consume excessive amounts of alcohol, alveolar macrophage immune capacity is impaired and, as a consequence, these individuals are at significantly increased risk of pneumonia. This brief review summarizes some of the key mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and proposes a hypothetical scheme by which alcohol interferes with zinc bioavailability within the alveolar space and thereby dampens macrophage function.
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Chronic alcohol exposure specifically impairs the immune defences and functioning of the lower respiratory tract, increasing the risk of both viral and bacterial pneumonia.
“Apart from the general immunosuppressive effects explained above, chronic alcohol exposure specifically impairs the immune defences and functioning of the lower respiratory tract, increasing the risk of both viral and bacterial pneumonia.”
From The relationship between different dimensions of alcohol use and the burden of disease—an update (2017) · cites this paper as [138]
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The relationship between different dimensions of alcohol use and the burden of disease—an update
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- Authors
- Mehta, A. J., Guidot, D. M., & Weber, K. T.
- Affiliations
- Emory University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mehta, Ashish J.
- Venue
- The American Journal of the Medical Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-03
- Volume
- 343
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 244-247
- ISSN
- 0002-9629 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3288531
- OpenAlex
- W2016689874
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000454)
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA 017627, AA P50 013757, P50AA013757, R01AA017627, T32AA013528)
- National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR025008)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotoxicology and immune responses
- Keywords
- alcohol abuse, alveolar macrophages, pneumonia, chronic alcohol consumption, macrophage function, zinc bioavailability, alcohol-related morbidity
- MeSH terms
- Alcoholism, Animals, Humans, Pneumonia, Zinc, Signal Transduction, Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor, Macrophages, Alveolar, Mice
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