Alcohol‐Induced Suppression of Lung Chemokine Production and the Host Defense Response to <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i>

Abstract

At least two mechanisms, suppressed chemokine production and impaired neutrophil adhesion molecule expression, likely work in concert in the alcohol-intoxicated host to impair neutrophil adhesion and migration into the lung during pneumococcal infection. These alterations in neutrophil function likely increase the susceptibility of alcohol-consuming hosts to pneumonia.