Ethanol induces marked changes in lymphocyte populations and natural killer cell activity in mice.

Treatment of mice in vivo with 5% w/v ethanol given in a liquid diet causes marked changes in spleen, peripheral blood, and thymus lymphocytes. In both the thymus and spleen, there is an acute cellular depletion resulting in a significant decrease in gross tissue size and cell number. In spleen and peripheral blood, the percentage of T lymphocytes is increased relative to B lymphocytes, but the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ T cell sub-populations remains unchanged. Splenic natural killer (NK) cell activity is increased in ethanol-consuming mice, although the percentage of NK1.1+ cells is relatively unchanged.