Response of Differentiated Human Airway Epithelia to Alcohol Exposure and Klebsiella pneumoniae Challenge

Medical Sciences

Sammeta V. Raju¹  Richard G. Painter³  Gregory J. Bagby⁴  Steve Nelson² 

[1] Department of Genetics, Comprehensive Alcohol Research Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Medicine, Comprehensive Alcohol Research Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Comprehensive Alcohol Research Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Physiology, Comprehensive Alcohol Research Center, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: alcohol;    human airway epithelia;    air-liquid interface culture;    Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria;    epithelial barrier function;    cytokines;    adenosine receptor;   

DOI  :  10.3390/medsci1010002

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Alcohol abuse has been associated with increased susceptibility to pulmonary infection. It is not fully defined how alcohol contributes to the host defense compromise. Here primary human airway epithelial cells were cultured at an air-liquid interface to form a differentiated and polarized epithelium. This unique culture model allowed us to closely mimic lung infection in the context of alcohol abuse by basolateral alcohol exposure and apical live bacterial challenge. Application of clinically relevant concentrations of alcohol for 24 h did not significantly alter epithelial integrity or barrier function. When apically challenged with viable Klebsiella pneumoniae, the cultured epithelia had an enhanced tightness which was unaffected by alcohol. Further, alcohol enhanced apical bacterial growth, but not bacterial binding to the cells. The cultured epithelium in the absence of any treatment or stimulation had a base-level IL-6 and IL-8 secretion. Apical bacterial challenge significantly elevated the basolateral secretion of inflammatory cytokines including IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, and TNF-α. However, alcohol suppressed the observed cytokine burst in response to infection. Addition of adenosine receptor agonists negated the suppression of IL-6 and TNF-α. Thus, acute alcohol alters the epithelial cytokine response to infection, which can be partially mitigated by adenosine receptor agonists.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.