Maternal and paternal alcohol use: effects on the immune system of the offspring.

There is no single mechanism which can account for such a complex biological phenomenon as immune regulation, nor is it clear how alcohol teratogenicity exerts its multiple adversive effects, including lasting immune deficits. Much of the research aimed at unravelling effects of pre- or early postnatal alcohol exposure on the organism's defense mechanisms and long-term health risks has been phenomenological. A better understanding of mechanisms which underlie alcohol effects on immune competency will require integrated studies of the neuro-immune-endocrine networks.