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Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and tobacco smoking are associated with an increased predisposition for community-acquired pneumonia and the acute respiratory distress syndrome. Mechanisms are incompletely established but may include alterations in response to pathogens by immune cells, including alveolar macrophages (AMs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). We sought to determine the relationship of AUDs and smoking to expression of IFNγ, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα by AMs and PBMCs from human subjects after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or lipoteichoic acid (LTA). AMs and PBMCs from healthy subjects with AUDs and controls, matched on smoking, were cultured with LPS (1 μg/ml) or LTA (5 μg/ml) in the presence and absence of the antioxidant precursor N-acetylcysteine (10 mM). Cytokines were measured in cell culture supernatants. Expression of IFNγ, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα in AMs and PBMCs was significantly increased in response to stimulation with LPS and LTA. AUDs were associated with augmented production of proinflammatory cytokines, particularly IFNγ and IL-1β, by AMs and PBMCs in response to LPS. Smoking diminished the impact of AUDs on AM cytokine expression. Expression of basal AM and PBMC Toll-like receptors-2 and -4 was not clearly related to differences in cytokine expression; however, addition of N-acetylcysteine with LPS or LTA led to diminished AM and PBMC cytokine secretion, especially among current smokers. Our findings suggest that AM and PBMC immune cell responses to LPS and LTA are influenced by AUDs and smoking through mechanisms that may include alterations in cellular oxidative stress., (Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.)

γδ T lymphocytes are a unique T cell population with important anti-inflammatory capabilities. Their role in acute lung injury, however, is poorly understood but may provide significant insight into lung-protective mechanisms occurring after injury. In a murine model of lung injury, wild-type C57BL/6 and TCRδ(-/-) mice were exposed to Escherichia coli LPS, followed by analysis of γδ T cell and macrophage subsets. In the absence of γδ T cells, TCRδ(-/-) mice developed increased inflammation and alveolar-capillary leak compared with wild-type C57BL/6 mice after LPS exposure that correlated with expansion of distinct macrophage populations. Classically activated M1 macrophages were increased in the lung of TCRδ(-/-) mice at d 1, 4, and 7 after LPS exposure that peaked at d 4 and persisted at d 7 compared with wild-type animals. In response to LPS, Vγ1 and Vγ7 γδ T cells were expanded in the lung and expressed IL-4. Coculture experiments showed decreased expression of TNF-α by resident alveolar macrophages in the presence of γδ T cells that was reversed in the presence of an anti-IL-4-blocking antibody. Treatment of mice with rIL4 resulted in reduced numbers of M1 macrophages, inflammation, and alveolar-capillary leak. Therefore, one mechanism by which Vγ1 and Vγ7 γδ T cells protect against LPS-induced lung injury is through IL-4 expression, which decreases TNF-α production by resident alveolar macrophages, thus reducing accumulation of M1 macrophages, inflammation, and alveolar-capillary leak., (© Society for Leukocyte Biology.)