Toxicity of chronic high alcohol intake on mouse natural killer cell activity.

The toxicity of chronic alcohol intake on natural killer (NK) cell activity of spleen cells from well-nourished, female C57BL/6 mice was studied in a 4-hour cytolytic chromium-release assay against YAC-1 lymphoma cells. Mice were fed a nutritionally complete crystalline amino acid diet and received 20% w/v alcohol solution for 12 weeks. Ad libitum and pair-fed control mice were given diet and either an isocaloric glucose solution or water. Decreased NK cell activity was observed in alcohol-consuming mice relative to all other control groups. NK cell activity was moderately decreased by feeding mice a high glucose diet, but more severely lowered in pair-fed groups compared to ad libitum control groups.