Alterations in immunoglobulin (Ig) levels after alcohol consumption have also been observed. An increase in both IgA and IgM levels in heavy drinkers (90–249 drinks/month) compared to light (<9 drinks/month) or moderate drinkers (30–89 drinks/month) was observed in adult males (Mili, Flanders et al. 1992). Similarly, a human study of 460 males and females with 221 alcohol abstainers, 140 light drinkers (1–140g/week), 53 moderate drinkers (141–280g/week), and 46 heavy drinkers (>280g/week) found a dose-dependent increase in serum IgA levels with alcohol consumption (Gonzalez-Quintela, Alende et al. 2008). Additionally, spontaneous IgA synthesis from PBMCs isolated from male and female alcoholic patients with liver disease is higher than that from controls (Wands, Dienstag et al. 1981). Analogously, in Wistar female rats, acute ethanol administration at 4g/kg intraperitoneally for 30 minutes increased the concentration of IgA in the intestinal lamina propria (Budec, Koko et al. 2007). Finally treatment of a mouse hybridoma cell line with 25, 50, 100 and 200mM ethanol for 48 hours resulted in a linear increase in IgM production (Muhlbauer, Karsten et al. 2001). The increased production of immunoglobulins in
