Chronic ethanol consumption alters monocyte transcriptional program by modifying chromatin accessibility

It is well established that heavy ethanol consumption affects both the innate and adaptive branches of the immune system, ultimately increasing the risk for infection and delaying wound healing. While ethanol ’s impact on functional responses of immune cells is well studied, the epigenetic underpinnings that orchestrate these changes are less understood. Transcriptional profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from chronic ethanol consuming female macaques indicates ethanol exerts its big gest impact on innate immune cells with significant gene expression changes in blood coagulation and wound healing pathways.
Source: Alcohol - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research