TreatmentUpdate81 - Vol. 9, No. 7 - pp. 4-5; September 1997
Sean Hosein

Experiments on animals and people have shown that excessive alcohol use can damage the liver, pancreas and weaken the immune system. Whether or not drinking alcohol increases production of HIV in people with this infection or if it increases the "risk of non-HIV-infected people becoming infected" (by weakening the immune system versus impairing their judgment) has not been determined. Results from lab experiments suggest that alcohol increases production of HIV and may make T cells more susceptible to infection. According to the results from a recent study, an average of one drink of alcohol does not increase production of HIV.

Study details

Researchers recruited 12 healthy adult volunteers (6 female, 6 male) who were not infected with HIV-1 or -2. Subjects had a history of not taking more than 2 drinks of alcohol per day. Researchers made a drink consisting largely of orange juice which had 10% alcohol and a small amount of sugar. Thirteen ml of the mix contained 1 gram of alcohol and subjects were given enough of the drink to provide 1 g of alcohol/kg of body weight. Subjects were not supposed to drink any alcohol 2 weeks before or during the study that was not provided by the researchers. On two days (days 0 and 7) half the subjects received a drink containing alcohol, while the other half received juice without alcohol. On day 7 the groups were crossed-over; that is, the subjects who previously received juice got alcohol and vice versa. Blood samples were taken from subjects and T cells extracted and exposed to HIV and monitored for 21 days.

Results -- some staggering

Although subjects who received alcohol did not become drunk, at most researchers noticed a "slight staggering while [subjects walked] to the table or restrooms."

T cells and HIV

T cells from the first group of subjects on day zero who received alcohol had increased HIV production the morning after their drink. But the level of the stress hormone cortisol was also high in all subjects on this day whereas on day 7 it was not. On day 7, production of HIV did not increase on average in the T cells of the second group of subjects who drank alcohol. As well, T cells from juice drinkers did not have any increased production of HIV. In other words, use of alcohol did not affect T cell counts.

Stress

The researchers think that overall, one strong drink of alcohol did not increase production of HIV. According to the study doctors, the increase in HIV seen with the first group on day zero was probably due to "stress-related factors" such as being in a clinic and fear of medical procedures such as having blood drawn. By day 7, the doctors think that the subjects had grown familiar with the procedures and were no longer as fearful as on day zero.

The researchers did note that the effect of continuous use of alcohol may be very different from that seen in their study. They suggest that chronic use of alcohol by PHAs be studied for its impact on the course of HIV infection.

REFERENCES:

1. Cook RT, Stapleton JT, Ballas ZK and Klinzman D. Effect of a single ethanol exposure on HIV replication in human lymphocytes. Journal of Investigative Medicine 1997;45:265-271.

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