# Methylation in binge ethanol-induced spleen atrophy in adolescent rats

> **NIH NIH U01** · SETON HALL UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $312,975

## Abstract

Project Summary:
This revised U01 research project is in response to PAR-16-214 with the Funding Opportunity Title, “Program
for Extramural/Intramural Alcohol Research Collaborations”. Sulie L. Chang, Ph.D. and Ming D. Li, Ph.D. will
be the two extramural investigators at Seton Hall University, and David Goldman, M.D. will be the intramural
investigator at NIAAA/NIH. For their alcohol research collaborations, they will share their unique, yet
complementary, expertise and experiences as well as their research facilities and other resources.
 The project goal is to delineate the involvement of DNA methylation in binge ethanol (EtOH)-induced
spleen atrophy during adolescence. Adolescence is an important period for maturation of various
physiological functions, including immune responses. Binge alcohol drinking, defined as consumption of
excessive amounts of alcohol in a short time resulting in a blood EtOH concentration (BEC) of at least 0.08
g/dl, is popular among adolescents and can lead to addictive behaviors and eventually alcoholism in
adulthood.
 Atrophy of the spleen, a key immune organ, is highly associated with immune dysfunction. We have
shown that treatment with 4.8 g/kg/d EtOH for 3 d differentially decreases the size of the spleen in 5 wk old
adolescent male F344 rats, but not in adult rats. There was also a decrease in the area of the splenic white
pulp and a distortion of white pulp structure in Sprague Dawley rats binge treated with EtOH. Expression of
CD3, a T cell marker, was decreased. The CD3+ T cell population was also differentially decreased in F344
rats given binge EtOH. These data showed that loss of T cells might partially, account for distortions of white
pulp and the overall relative spleen weight. The expression of caspase-3, a key enzyme for cell death,
negatively correlated with the relative spleen weight, indicating that binge EtOH induces loss of T cells
leading to distortions of the white pulp and spleen atrophy, in part, due to apoptosis.
 DNA methylation is an epigenetic event that operates through post-transcriptional modification of DNA by
DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) to regulate gene expressions. One of our preliminary studies showed that
treatment with 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-AZ), an inhibitor of DNA methylation, reversed binge EtOH-induced
spleen atrophy. In parallel, we also found that significant decreases of DNMT1 expression in the spleens of
rats given binge EtOH. The qRT-PCR array data showed that 6 genes were significantly downregulated
among 84 immunity and EtOH metabolism related genes after binge drinking. Taken together, we
hypothesize that DNA methylation is involved in binge EtOH-induced regulation of various target genes
leading to apoptosis of T cells, distortion of white pulp, and spleen atrophy during adolescence. To test
this hypothesis, in this revised application, we propose the following three aims: Aim 1 is to investigate the
effects of binge EtOH consumption on spleen atrophy, and to...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10155374
- **Project number:** 5U01AA025964-04
- **Recipient organization:** SETON HALL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sulie L. Chang
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $312,975
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-20 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10155374

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10155374, Methylation in binge ethanol-induced spleen atrophy in adolescent rats (5U01AA025964-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10155374. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*