Full Text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Alcohol is the second-most misused substance after tobacco. It has been identified as a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and 5.3% of all deaths and is associated with significant behavioral, social, and economic difficulties. As alcohol consumption may modulate the immune system’s regulatory mechanisms to avoid attacking the body’s tissues, it has been proven to play a dichotomic role in autoimmune diseases (ADs) based on the quantity of consumption. In this review, we report updated evidence on the role of alcohol in ADs, with a focus on alcohol addiction and the human biological immune system and the relationship between them, with alcohol as a risk or protective factor. Then, in this narrative review, we report the main evidence on the most studied ADs where alcohol represents a key modulator, including autoimmune thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, diabetes, allergic rhinitis, and primary biliary cholangitis. Alcohol at low–moderate dosages seems mostly to have a protective role in these diseases, while at higher dosages, the collateral risks surpass possible benefits. The specific mechanisms by which low-to-moderate alcohol intake relieves AD symptoms are not yet fully understood; however, emerging studies suggest that alcohol may have a systemic immunomodulatory effect, potentially altering the balance of anti-inflammatory innate and adaptive immune cells, as well as cytokines (via the NF-κB or NLRP3 pathways). It might influence the composition of the gut microbiome (increasing amounts of beneficial gut microbes) and the production of their fatty acid metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), as well as elevated concentrations of acetate, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and nitric oxide (NO). Unfortunately, a definite acceptable daily intake (ADI) of ethanol is complicated to establish because of the many mechanisms associated with alcohol consumption such that despite the interesting content of these findings, there is a limit to their applicability and risks should be weighed in cases of alcoholic drinking recommendations. The aim of future studies should be to modulate those beneficial pathways involved in the alcohol-protective role of ADs with various strategies to avoid the risks associated with alcohol intake.

Details

Title
Alcohol Consumption and Autoimmune Diseases
Author
Terracina, Sergio 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Caronti, Brunella 2 ; Lucarelli, Marco 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Francati, Silvia 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Piccioni, Maria Grazia 4 ; Tarani, Luigi 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ceccanti, Mauro 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Caserta, Micaela 6 ; Verdone, Loredana 6 ; Venditti, Sabrina 7 ; Fiore, Marco 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ferraguti, Giampiero 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (S.T.); [email protected] (M.L.); [email protected] (S.F.) 
 Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University Hospital of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy 
 Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (S.T.); [email protected] (M.L.); [email protected] (S.F.); Pasteur Institute, Cenci Bolognetti Foundation, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy 
 Department of Maternal Infantile and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (M.G.P.); [email protected] (L.T.) 
 SITAC, Società Italiana per il Trattamento dell’Alcolismo e le sue Complicanze, 00185 Rome, Italy; [email protected] 
 Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM-CNR), 00161 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (M.C.); [email protected] (L.V.) 
 Department of Biology and Biotechnologies “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; [email protected] 
 Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (IBBC-CNR), c/o Department of Sensory Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy 
First page
845
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
16616596
e-ISSN
14220067
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3159500186
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.