Diseases Commons^™

Alcohol's Contribution To Compromised Immunity, Gyongyi Szabo

Gyongyi Szabo

Alcoholics frequently suffer from infectious diseases and have increased rates of some cancers, indicating that alcohol impairs the immune system, which protects the body against this type of damage. Alcohol interferes with the functions of many of the cells and molecules that are part of the immune system. For example, alcohol inhibits the functions of the cells that ingest and destroy invading microorganisms (i.e., neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages). Both acute and chronic alcohol exposure also alter the production of signaling molecules that help coordinate the immune response (i.e., cytokines). Finally, alcohol adversely affects the functions of the cells that mediate …

A Recent Perspective On Alcohol, Immunity, And Host Defense, Gyongyi Szabo, Pranoti Mandrekar

Gyongyi Szabo

BACKGROUND: Multiple line of clinical and experimental evidence demonstrates that both acute, moderate, and chronic, excessive alcohol use result in various abnormalities in the functions of the immune system.

METHODS: Medline and PubMed databases were used to identify published reports with particular interest in the period of 2000-2008 in the subject of alcohol use, infection, inflammation, innate, and adaptive immunity.

RESULTS: This review article summarizes recent findings relevant to acute or chronic alcohol use-induced immunomodulation and its consequences on host defense against microbial pathogens and tissue injury. Studies with in vivo and in vitro alcohol administration are both discussed. The …

The Emerging Role Of Toll-Like Receptor Pathways In Surgical Diseases, Laszlo Romics, Gyongyi Szabo, John Calvin Coffey, Jiang Huai Wang, Henry Paul Redmond

Gyongyi Szabo

OBJECTIVE: To outline the emerging significance of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathways in surgical diseases. DATA

SOURCES: A systematic review of the literature was undertaken by searching the MEDLINE database for the period 1966 to 2005 without language restriction.

STUDY SELECTION: Original or review articles that described experimental data on the activation of TLR signaling pathways in surgically relevant diseases were selected for inclusion in this review.

DATA EXTRACTION: Data were obtained from peer-reviewed articles and references.

DATA SYNTHESIS: The role of TLRs in the recognition of pathogens renders them a key figure in the activation of both innate and …