How alcohol affects immune cells in heavy drinkers and liver disease

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic want to understand how heavy alcohol use damages the body's immune system, particularly in people with alcoholic hepatitis (liver inflammation caused by drinking). This study will collect a single blood sample from three groups — healthy volunteers, people who drink heavily but have no liver disease, and people with alcoholic hepatitis — to compare how their immune cells respond differently to alcohol.

Alcoholic hepatitis can be life-threatening, and doctors know that alcohol triggers harmful inflammation and damages cells' energy-producing structures (called mitochondria). However, very few studies have looked closely at how this damage happens in immune cells, so this research aims to fill that gap and may lead to new treatments.