Impaired antigen presentation by splenocytes of ethanol-consuming C57BL/6 mice.

Excessive alcohol consumption impairs T-cell-dependent immune function. Whether this impairment results from the direct inhibition of helper T (Th) cells or from inhibition of the cells that process and present antigen to Th cells is unclear. The present study examines the effect of dietary alcohol on the ability of spleen cells from C57BL/6 mice to present antigen to T-cell hybridomas. We find that ethanol consumption impairs the ability of spleen cells to present hen egg lysozyme (HEL) in vitro. This impairment was seen for native HEL protein, a hapten-modified HEL, and a peptide bearing a minimal T-cell epitope (HEL 51-60) that requires no additional enzymatic processing. These results suggest that deficiencies in immune responsiveness in alcohol-consuming individuals may include antigen presentation.