Alcohol and inflammatory responses: Highlights of the 2015 Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meeting

• Authors: Abigail R. Cannon, Loyola University Chicago; Niya L. Morris, Loyola University Chicago; Adam M. Hammer, Loyola University Chicago; Brenda Curtis, Loyola University Chicago; Daniel G. Remick, Boston University; Samantha Yeligar, Emory University; Lauren Poole, University of Louisville; Ellen L. Burnham, University of Colorado; Todd A. Wyatt, University of Nebraska; Patricia E. Molina, Louisiana State University; Kaku So-Armah, Boston University; Trinidad Cisneros, Stanford University; Guoshun Wang, Louisiana State University; Charles H. Lang, Pennsylvania State College of Medicine; Pranoti Mandrekar, University of Massachusetts; Elizabeth J. Kovacs, Loyola University Chicago; Mashkoor A. Choudhry, Loyola University Chicago
• Journal Title: Alcohol
• Volume: Volume 54
• Publisher: Elsevier | 2016-07-25, Pages 73-77
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2016.06.005
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Immunology; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Substance Abuse; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; Toxicology; Alcohol; Inflammation; Tissue injury; Infection; RESPIRATORY-DISTRESS-SYNDROME; CIGARETTE-SMOKE; LUNG INJURY; DYSFUNCTION; ETHANOL; ASTHMA; MICE

Abstract

On September 27, 2015 the 20th annual Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meeting was held as a satellite symposium at the annual meeting of the Society for Leukocyte Biology in Raleigh, NC. The 2015 meeting focused broadly on adverse effects of alcohol and alcohol-use disorders in multiple organ systems. Divided into two plenary sessions, AIRIG opened with the topic of pulmonary inflammation as a result of alcohol consumption, which was followed by alcohol's effect on multiple organs, including the brain and liver. With presentations showing the diverse range of underlying pathology and mechanisms associated with multiple organs as a result of alcohol consumption, AIRIG emphasized the importance of continued alcohol research, as its detrimental consequences are not limited to one or even two organs, but rather extend to the entire host as a whole.