BMC Immu.：过度饮酒会降低人体免疫力

不少饮酒过度的人都有抗病能力变弱的感觉。英国学术刊物日前发表的一项新研究成果显示，长期摄入大量酒精会从两方面影响免疫力：使体内某些抗病毒物质含量下降；一些易引起发炎的物质含量随之上升。

新一期英国《BMC免疫学》杂志刊登的报告说，美国马萨诸塞大学医学院的研究人员进行了相关实验。他们从一些健康志愿者体内提取组织样本，然后用酒精进行处理，其效果大概相当于一个人每天摄入60克酒精且持续一个星期。

研究结果显示，在组织样本中，一些与免疫力有关的物质含量随之发生变化，其中有助于抵抗病毒感染的干扰素（IFN）含量下降，而另一种名为“α型肿瘤坏死因子”（TNF α）的促炎症物质含量会增多。

参加该研究的真吉?绍博教授说，酒精通过这两方面作用削弱人体免疫力，长期过度饮酒就会导致对许多疾病的抵抗力下降，如抵抗丙型肝炎病毒感染的能力会降低。因此为了保持身体健康，喜欢饮酒者应注意适度饮酒。

Inhibition of TLR8- and TLR4-induced Type I IFN induction by alcohol is different from its effects on inflammatory cytokine production in monocytes

Maoyin Pang, Shashi Bala, Karen Kodys, Donna Catalano, Gyongyi Szabo

Prolonged alcohol consumption is a significant co-factor in the progression of chronic viral infections including hepatitis C and HIV, which are both single-stranded RNA viruses. Toll like receptor 8 (TLR8), a pattern recognition receptor expressed in monocytes, senses viral single stranded RNA as a danger signal and leads to the induction of Type I interferon (IFN) as well as the pro-inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4) ligand, was shown to affect inflammatory cell activation after alcohol consumption and in HIV and HCV infections. Here we hypothesized that alcohol exposure modulates TLR8- and TLR4-ligand-induced monocyte activation and affects both type I IFN and inflammatory cytokine induction.