Alcohol and inflammatory responses: Summary of the 2013 Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meeting

Abstract

Loyola University Chicago, Health Sciences Campus in Maywood, Illinois hosted the 18th annual Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meeting on November 22, 2013. This year's meeting emphasized alcohol's effect on inflammatory responses in diverse disease states and injury conditions. The meeting consisted of three plenary sessions demonstrating the adverse effects of alcohol, specifically, liver inflammation, adverse systemic effects, and alcohol's role in infection and immunology. Researchers also presented insight on modulation of microRNAs and stress proteins following alcohol consumption. Additionally, researchers revealed sex- and concentration-dependent differences in alcohol-mediated pathologies.