Can a glass of wine a day keep the doctor away? Alcohol 'boosts the immune system and makes vaccines more effective'
- U.S. scientists have found for the first time that voluntary moderate alcohol consumption boosts immune responses to vaccination
- The research could pave the way for potentially new ways of improving the ability of humans to respond to vaccines and infections
- The findings add to those of previous studies that show a glass of wine with dinner can improve heath and cardiovascular function in particular
It's news that may remove some of the guilt when quaffing wine at the Christmas party.
Scientists have found that moderate alcohol consumption could bolster the immune system and potentially boost the body's ability to fight infections.
The research could pave the way for potentially new ways of improving peoples’ ability to respond to vaccines and infections, benefiting vulnerable populations, such as the elderly for whom the flu vaccine, for example, has been found to be largely ineffective.
U.S. scientists have found that moderate alcohol consumption, such as a glass of wine at dinner, could bolster people's immune systems and potentially boost our ability to fight infections
The study, conducted by an immunologist at the University of California, Riverside and published in the journal Vaccine, could also lead to a better understanding of how humans’ immune systems work.
‘It has been known for a long time that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower mortality,’ said Ilhem Messaoudi, lead author of the research paper and an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the university’s School of Medicine.
‘Our study, conducted on non-human primates, shows for the first time that voluntary moderate alcohol consumption boosts immune responses to vaccination,’ she said.
To study the impact of alcohol consumption on the immune system, the researchers trained 12 Rhesus macaques to consume alcohol on their own accord.
They first vaccinated the animals against small pox and then allowed them to access either four per cent ethanol, as well as water as an alternative fluid and food.
To study the impact of alcohol consumption on the immune system, the researchers trained 12 Rhesus macaques (pictured) to consume alcohol on their own accord
The researchers then monitored the animals' daily alcohol consumption for 14 months and vaccinated the animals again seven months after the experiment began.
The team found that over nine months after the animals began self-administering alcohol, their daily ethanol intake varied markedly among them.
‘Like humans, rhesus macaques showed highly variable drinking behaviour,’ Professor Messaoudi said.
‘Some animals drank large volumes of ethanol, while others drank in moderation.’
Animals that consumed more alcohol, averaged a blood ethanol concentration greater than the legal limit of 0.08 per cent and were therefore designated 'heavy drinkers.'
Monkeys in the second group consumed less alcohol and typically had blood ethanol concentrations of between 0.02 and 0.04 per cent, making them 'moderate drinkers'.
‘Prior to consuming alcohol, all the animals showed comparable responses to vaccination,’ Professor Messaoudi said.
The research could pave the way for potentially new ways of improving peoples' ability to respond to vaccines and infections
‘Following exposure to ethanol, however, the animals showed markedly different responses after receiving the booster vaccine.’
The researchers found that as expected, the animals that drank the largest amounts of alcohol showed greatly diminished vaccine responses compared to the control group.
But animals that drank moderate amounts of ethanol displayed enhanced vaccine responses.
‘These surprising findings indicate that some of the beneficial effects of moderate amounts of alcohol consumption may be manifested through boosting the body's immune system,’ Professor Messaoudi said.
‘This supports what has been widely believed for some time: moderate ethanol consumption results in a reduction in all causes of mortality, especially cardiovascular disease.
'As for excessive alcohol consumption, our study shows that it has a significant negative impact on health.’
Alcohol abuse kills 22,000 people prematurely in the UK, according to Pru Health and approximately 25,000 people in the U.S. annually.
Around a third of men and a fifth of women in the UK admitted drinking over the weekly recommendations.
‘If you have a family history of alcohol abuse, or are at risk, or have been an abuser in the past, we are not recommending you go out and drink to improve your immune system,' Professor Messaoudi said.
‘But for the average person that has, say, a glass of wine with dinner, it does seem, in general, to improve heath and cardiovascular function in particular, and now we can add the immune system to that list.
‘Next, we plan to harness our observations made in this study to address bigger questions on the immune system, such as how can we boost our immune responses to vaccination, a particular challenge for our elderly.’
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
We are no longer accepting comments on this article.