Immune Responses after Heavy Alcohol Consumption: Cytokine Concentrations in Hangover-Sensitive and Hangover-Resistant Drinkers

Abstract

This study investigated immunological changes during an alcohol hangover, and the possible difference between hangover-resistant and hangover-sensitive drinkers in terms of immune reactivity. Using a semi-naturalistic design, N = 36 healthy social drinkers (18 to 30 years old) provided saliva samples on a control day (after drinking no alcohol) and on a post-alcohol day. Hangover severity was rated directly after saliva collection. Cytokine concentrations, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and hangover severity were compared between both test days and between hangover-sensitive and -resistant drinkers. Data from N = 35 drinkers (17 hangover-sensitive and 18 hangover-resistant) were included in the statistical analyses. Relative to the control day, there were significant increases in saliva IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations on the post-alcohol day. No significant differences in cytokine concentrations were found between hangover-sensitive and hangover-resistant drinkers, nor did any change in cytokine concentration correlate significantly with hangover severity. In line with previous controlled studies assessing cytokines in blood, the current naturalistic study using saliva samples also demonstrated that the immune system responds to high-level alcohol intake. However, further research is warranted, as, in contrast to previous findings in blood samples, changes in saliva cytokine concentrations did not differ significantly between hangover-sensitive and hangover-resistant drinkers, nor did they correlate significantly with hangover severity.

Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Hangover-Sensitive and Hangover-Resistant Drinkers

“…These mean differences for anxiety and stress were however lower than the minimum change in scores found for individuals within the normative population to indicate improvement after receiving intervention (e.g., 3.9 for anxiety and 4.9 for stress) [24]. Additionally, the mean DASS-21 subscale scores for both hangover-sensitive and hangover-resistant drinkers were lower than the cut-off scores for the severity ratings [23], indicating mild levels of depression (10), anxiety (8), and stress (15). Finally, in the main analysis, the effect sizes for the mean differences between the two hangover groups for anxiety and stress were inconsequential (r = 0.05 and 0.03, respectively).…”

“…Individual differences in susceptibility to alcohol hangovers are not fully understood. Researchers have shown that the presence and severity of hangovers are related to an immune response to alcohol, in which the inflammatory effects of alcohol persist and manifest as hangover symptoms the following day [7,8].…”

Differences in Next-Day Adverse Effects and Impact on Mood of an Evening of Heavy Alcohol Consumption between Hangover-Sensitive Drinkers and Hangover-Resistant Drinkers

“…In addition to alcohol metabolism, other analyses focused on the inflammatory response caused by alcohol. Saliva samples from the participants of the study of Hogewoning et al [ 16 ] were analyzed to assess the concentration of a variety of cytokines [ 55 ]. Compared to the control day, on the alcohol day significant increases in saliva interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 concentrations were found in both groups.…”

“…However, no significant differences were found between the groups. Moreover, changes in cytokine concentration (alcohol day–control day) did not significantly correlate with hangover severity [ 55 ]. These observations were unexpected, as previous survey research suggested that the perceived immune fitness of hangover-resistant drinkers was significantly better that that reported by hangover-sensitive drinkers [ 56 ].…”

COVID-19 Vaccination and Alcohol Consumption: Justification of Risks

“…Ethanol can harm immune cells due to the formation of free radicals during metabolism, but antioxidants should provide protection against this [ 36 ]. Interestingly, the degree of a hangover the day after alcohol consumption does not affect alcohol-induced immune changes [ 37 ].…”