{"id":46913,"date":"2002-03-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2002-03-26T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2002\/03\/26\/researchers-at-unmc-university-of-iowa-receive-6-3million-nih-grant-to-study-alcohol-abuse-related-immune-system-abnormalities\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:48:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:48:35","slug":"researchers-at-unmc-university-of-iowa-receive-6-3million-nih-grant-to-study-alcohol-abuse-related-immune-system-abnormalities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2002\/03\/26\/researchers-at-unmc-university-of-iowa-receive-6-3million-nih-grant-to-study-alcohol-abuse-related-immune-system-abnormalities\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers at UNMC, University of Iowa receive $6.3\n\nmillion NIH grant to study alcohol abuse, related immune system abnormalities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and<\/p>\n

University of Iowa (UI), have jointly received a five-year, $6.3 million<\/p>\n

grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, one<\/p>\n

of the National Institutes of Health, to study immune system abnormalities<\/p>\n

caused by chronic alcohol abuse.<\/p>\n

The UI researchers will receive $4.85 million and UNMC will receive<\/p>\n

nearly $1.5 million to conduct studies.<\/p>\n

The research in our lab is designed to define how immune system response<\/p>\n

to viral infections damages the liver and the role of alcohol abuse in<\/p>\n

the severity of the infections, said Thomas Jerrells, Ph.D., UNMC professor<\/p>\n

of pathology and microbiology and principal investigator of the UNMC grant.<\/p>\n

Hepatitis C virus infections are severe in human beings who abuse alcohol,<\/p>\n

but the mechanisms of the interactions of alcohol abuse and how the virus<\/p>\n

causes damage are not identified. Hopefully, the data obtained from these<\/p>\n

studies will provide ideas of how to intervene in these serious consequences<\/p>\n

of alcohol abuse by human beings.<\/p>\n

Robert Cook, M.D., Ph.D., UI professor of pathology and director of<\/p>\n

clinical laboratories at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in<\/p>\n

Iowa City, is the coordinator of the grant. Cook and his colleagues will<\/p>\n

study the effects of chronic alcohol abuse on various components of the<\/p>\n

immune system and also will investigate the effects of alcohol on the immune<\/p>\n

system responses to infectious diseases.<\/p>\n

“People who chronically abuse alcohol develop immunodeficiency, which<\/p>\n

leaves them more prone to infectious diseases such as pneumonia,” Dr. Cook<\/p>\n

said. “Not only does this cause health problems for those individuals,<\/p>\n

but it also increases the societal cost from health care expenses and lost<\/p>\n

productivity. Our studies will provide the first comprehensive description<\/p>\n

of what the immune system abnormalities are present so we can begin to<\/p>\n

tailor therapies.”<\/p>\n

Although increased rates of infection in people who abuse alcohol are<\/p>\n

an indication of immune system problems, it has not been possible in the<\/p>\n

past to obtain a clear understanding of the cellular mechanisms that underlie<\/p>\n

deficiencies of the immune system. Dr. Cook explained that a new animal<\/p>\n

model has been developed that will allow the research team to investigate<\/p>\n

the immune system changes caused by chronic alcohol exposure.<\/p>\n

“Using mice with various genetic predispositions, we are able to put<\/p>\n

them on alcohol-containing diets and keep them reasonably healthy for a<\/p>\n

long period of time,” Dr. Cook said. “In the past that has been difficult,<\/p>\n

but now we have an animal model of chronic alcohol exposure that produces<\/p>\n

similar immune system changes to<\/p>\n

those observed in chronic human alcoholics.”<\/p>\n

He and his colleagues at the UI and UNMC will use this animal model<\/p>\n

as well as cell culture studies to investigate the effect of chronic alcohol<\/p>\n

abuse on various cellular components of the immune system including T-cells,<\/p>\n

B-cells, dendritic cells, monocytes and natural killer cells. Each of these<\/p>\n

cell types play different roles in fighting infectious diseases.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and University of Iowa (UI), have jointly received a five-year, $6.3 million grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, one of the National Institutes of Health, to study immune system abnormalities caused by chronic alcohol abuse. The UI researchers will receive $4.85 million […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nResearchers at UNMC, University of Iowa receive $6.3 million NIH grant to study alcohol abuse, related immune system abnormalities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Researchers at 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