The 1393 genes affected by ethanol treatment with an absolute fold change ≥ 1.2 were used for Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Forty-one pathways were significantly affected by ethanol treatment (Table 1). Among these were several inflammatory pathways, including IL-6 signaling, dendritic cell maturation, CD40 signaling, IL-10 and IL-9 signaling. TNFR2 (tumor necrosis factor receptor 2) signaling showed mostly increased expression. Four NF-κB related genes (NFKB2, NFKBIA, NFKBIE and IKBKE), all with increased expression, are collectively found in 28 of these pathways, including the NF-κB pathway itself. The results from the upstream regulator analysis, shown in Supplementary Table 3, reinforces these findings. NF-κB was identified as the most significantly activated upstream regulator. TNF signaling also appears activated; TNFα, which has increased expression, is found in 17 of the pathways. Also affected were 45 cytokines, including IL6 and IL1β. All were activated except three, two of which, IL10 and IL1RN, have known anti-inflammatory effects. Other harbingers of inflammation were seen: activation of interferons and Toll-like receptors.
