Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with enhanced sensitivity to cellular lipopolysaccharide challenge.

Individuals with AUD showed greater resting or unstimulated levels of intracellular monocyte expression of TNF-α and IL-6/TNF-α co-expression than controls. AUD was associated with increases in TLR4-stimulated monocyte production of TNF-α and co-production of IL-6 and TNF-α. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to investigate relationships between AUD and monocyte production of proinflammatory cytokines, at rest and in response to TLR4 stimulation with LPS. The study extends previous findings on the roles of proinflammatory cytokines in AUD and serves as a critical proof of concept for the use of this method to probe neuroimmune mechanisms underlying AUD.