Paternal alcohol consumption: effects on ocular response and serum antibody response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in offspring.

Male Swiss-Webster mice that consumed liquid alcohol diets containing 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, or 0% ethanol-derived calories (EDC) for 7 weeks were bred to untreated females that were not exposed to alcohol diets. Males receiving the 20-0% EDC diets were pair-fed to those consuming the 25% EDC diet. At approximately 60 days of age, male offspring were challenged with 10(8) colony forming units of Pseudomonas aeruginosa onto the scarified cornea of one eye. The ocular response was then evaluated macroscopically for 4 weeks. Male offspring sired by alcohol-consuming fathers exhibited more severe ocular infection at 24 hr postinfection compared with mice sired by control fathers and, after 8 days postinfection, more corneas of the 25% EDC-sired progeny perforated than did the other groups. At 30 days after infection, serum immunoglobulin titers (IgM, IgG, IgA) specific to P. aeruginosa were determined by ELISA. Although the majority of the mice were unable to restore corneal clarity within 30 days postinfection, a strong serum IgG response was detected in pooled sera from those animals tested. Offspring were reinfected in the contralateral control eye at 30 days postprimary infection. Most control animals were able to restore corneal clarity in the contralateral control eye within 30 days postinfection, but less than a third of the alcohol-sired offspring did so. Again, the pooled sera that was tested indicated a strong humoral response, despite differences in corneal clarity. These studies indicate an increased susceptibility to infection and an impairment in restoration of corneal clarity in offspring sired by alcohol-consuming males, which does not appear to be mediated by serum antibody mechanisms.