How long-term drinking changes key immune blood cells
Official title: Impact of chronic alcohol consumption on the functional and epigenetic landscapes of monocytes and their progenitors
Funded at University of Kentucky · NIH-11160885 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how chronic alcohol use alters monocytes (a type of immune cell) and their bone marrow precursors in people who drink heavily.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Kentucky NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lexington, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2020 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $2,051,313 |
| NIH project number | 2R01AA028735-07 |
| Project ID | NIH-11160885 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults with a history of chronic heavy alcohol consumption or diagnosed alcohol use disorder who can give blood and possibly a bone marrow sample.
✕Less likely to help
People without a history of significant alcohol use or those unable/unwilling to provide the required samples are unlikely to benefit directly from participating.
What this research studies
If you take part, researchers will collect blood and bone marrow samples to study immune cells that help fight infection and heal tissues. They will measure how these cells behave, what inflammatory signals they produce, and how their DNA is packaged and marked (epigenetic changes) using modern sequencing and chromatin tests. The team will compare people with long-term alcohol use to people without heavy drinking to find lasting changes. The work builds on prior findings that heavy drinking shifts these cells toward a more inflammatory state.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to new ways to protect or restore immune function in people with long-term alcohol use.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies, including work from this team, have shown inflammatory and functional shifts in monocytes with chronic alcohol use, but the epigenetic mechanisms remain an active and developing area of research.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Kentucky
Lexington, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Messaoudi, Ilhem — University of Kentucky
- Study coordinator: Messaoudi, Ilhem
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.