Alcohol consumption and skin immune cells

Alcohol induced immunosuppression is particularly apparent in epithelial tissues. In the skin, alcoholism is associated with a compromised ability to fight infection and heal wounds; yet the precise immunologic alterations underlying these changes remain poorly understood.

Resident populations dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells play important roles in maintaining immunologic homeostasis in the skin. Using a murine model of alcoholism, I am currently studying the extent to which alcohol induced DC and T cell defects contribute to the establishment of cutaneous immune deficiency.

Parlet CP, Kavanaugh JS, Horswill AR, Schlueter AJ. Chronic ethanol feeding increases the severity of Staphylococcus aureus skin infections by altering local host defenses. J Leukoc Biol. 2015 Apr;97(4):769-78. doi:10.1189/jlb.4A0214-092R. Epub 2015 Jan 20. PubMed PMID: 25605871; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4370047.

Parlet CP, Waldschmidt TJ, Schlueter AJ. Chronic ethanol feeding induces subset loss and hyporesponsiveness in skin T cells. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2014 May;38(5):1356-64. doi: 10.1111/acer.12358. Epub 2014 Feb 11. PubMed PMID:24512045.

Parlet CP, Schlueter AJ. Mechanisms by which chronic ethanol feeding impairs the migratory capacity of cutaneous dendritic cells. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013 Dec;37(12):2098-107. doi: 10.1111/acer.12201. Epub 2013 Jul 29. PubMed PMID:23895590; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3815521.