Impairment of Polymorphonuclear Leukocyte Immigration as a Mechanism of Alcohol-induced Suppression of Pulmonary Antibacterial Defenses1–3

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Antibacterial defenses of the lung against pathogens involved in alcohol-related bacterial pneumonias include the alveolar macrophage and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) that migrate into the lung to provide auxiliary phagocytic defenses. Alcohol is known to impair PMN migration; failure of PMN to appear in the lungs may be related to lowered host resistance. To test this hypothesis mice were challenged by aerosol inhalation with Staphylococcus aureus or Proteus mirabilis and injected intraperitoneally with increasing doses of alcohol (0.25, 0.5, and 1.0% body weight). Intrapulmonary killing of the organisms was quantitated at 4 h thereafter, at which time quantitative differential counts were also performed on lavaged cell populations. Alcohol treatment increasingly suppressed the killing of S. aureus, so that at the highest dose, 41.5 ± 4.2% of the initial viable bacteria remained as compared with 11.9 ± 0.7% in the lungs of untreated animals. In contrast, the high dose of alcohol totally ablated pul...