Impairment of Hematopoietic Precursor Cell Activation during the Granulopoietic Response to Bacteremia in Mice with Chronic-Plus-Binge Alcohol Administration

ABSTRACT Alcohol abuse impairs immune defense. To study the effect of chronic-plus-binge alcohol exposure on the granulopoietic response, acute alcohol intoxication (intraperitoneal injection of 5 g alcohol/kg body weight) was introduced to mice chronically fed on the Lieber-DeCarli low-fat liquid alcohol diet for 5 weeks. Bacteremia was induced by intravenous injection of Escherichia coli. Bacteremia caused a remarkable increase in marrow lin − c-kit + Sca-1 + cells. Activation of cell proliferation supported the increase in marrow lin − c-kit + Sca-1 + cells. Alcohol administration inhibited this activation of lin − c-kit + Sca-1 + cells. The bone marrow of pair-fed control mice receiving intraperitoneal saline stored a large number of mature granulocytes expressing a high level of Gr1 (Gr1 hi cells). The proportion of Gr1 hi cells and the total number of Gr1 + cells were markedly reduced in the bone marrow, along with an increase in the ratio of Gr1 + granulocytes in peripheral white blood cells following bacteremia. E. coli infection stimulated proliferation of granulopoietic precursor cells, resulting in a marked increase in the ratio of immature Gr1 lo cells in the bone marrow. Alcohol administration itself triggered marrow release of Gr1 + cells, resulting in reduction of the marrow granulocyte reserve with an elevation of granulocytes in the circulation. Alcohol also impaired activation of granulopoietic precursor proliferation following bacteremia. Alcohol disrupted lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-TLR4-ERK1/2-cyclin D1 signaling and inhibited upregulation of Sca-1 and C/EBPβ expression by lineage-negative marrow cells in response to bacteremia. These results indicate that chronic-plus-binge alcohol exposure inhibits the granulopoietic response by disrupting key cell signaling for hematopoietic precursor cell activation and commitment to granulocyte lineage development.