The dendritic cell (DC), which plays a critical role in T cell activation and initiation of adaptive immune responses, is another innate immune cell affected by ethanol. DCs uptake antigens in peripheral tissues which leads to their maturation, and then travel to draining lymph nodes where they present them to T cells (Janeway 2008). As described above for monocytes, long-term in vitro treatment of myeloid DCs (mDCs) generated from healthy female and male blood donors with 25mM ethanol for 7 days results in reduced IL-12 production, increased IL-10 production, and a decrease in expression of the co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86 (Mandrekar, Catalano et al. 2004). Similarly, consumption of 10% (w/v) ethanol in tap water ad libitum for 2 days in mice resulted in decreased bone marrow DC generation, decreased expression of CD80 and CD86, impaired induction of T cell proliferation, and a decrease in IL-12 production (Lau, Abe et al. 2006). Also, monocyte-derived mDCs obtained from healthy male and female volunteers shortly after consuming 2mL vodka/kg body weight in a total volume of 300mL orange juice resulting in BACs
