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2018 Aug 20
Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
Alcohol consumption in adolescence is associated with a lower risk of multiple sclerosis in a Danish cohort
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30124094

Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:
Due to the possible existence of a vulnerable period of multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility in adolescence and because Danish teenagers have a high alcohol consumption, we investigated the association between alcohol consumption at ages 15-19 and the risk of developing MS.
METHODS:
A total of 1717 patients with MS and 4685 healthy blood donors filled in a comprehensive environmental and lifestyle questionnaire. Data were analysed by logistic regression models and adjusted for selected confounders.
RESULTS:
We found an inverse association between alcohol consumption in adolescence and risk of developing MS in both women ( p < 0.001) and men ( p = 0.012). Women with low alcohol consumption had an odds ratio (OR) of 0.56 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47-0.66) compared with non-drinking women. The ORs were similar for women with moderate (OR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.38-0.62) and high consumption (OR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.38-0.84). Men with low alcohol consumption had an OR of 0.69 (95% CI: 0.53-0.89) compared with non-drinking men but no decreased risk was found for men with moderate and high consumption.
CONCLUSION:
Alcohol consumption in adolescence was associated with lower risk of developing MS among both sexes.

Cheers

I don't know how alcohol consumption affects your risk of getting MS. But if you already have MS and you have difficulty walking, alcohol will make it worse. No surprise there I guess.

i wonder what happened to the 2698 ms patients not captured in this study.

2019 Dec 2
Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School, Austin
Alcohol shifts gut microbial networks and ameliorates a murine model of neuroinflammation in a sex-specific pattern
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31792189

Abstract
Alcohol is a widely consumed dietary component by patients with autoimmune neuroinflammatory diseases, but current evidence on the effects of alcohol in these conditions is confounding. Epidemiological studies suggest moderate consumption of alcohol may be protective in some autoimmune diseases; however, this correlation has not been directly investigated. Here, we characterize the effects of moderate-dose alcohol in a model system of autoimmune neuroinflammation, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Male and female C57BL/6J mice were fed a 2.6% alcohol or isocaloric diet for 3 wk prior to MOG35-55 EAE induction. Surprisingly, alcohol-fed males experienced significantly greater disease remission compared to alcohol-fed females and control-fed counterparts. We observed a male-specific decrease in microglial density in alcohol-consuming animals in cervical and thoracic spinal cord in late-stage disease. In the gut, alcohol diet resulted in several sex-specific alterations in key microbiota known for their regulatory immune roles, including Turicibacter, Akkermansia, Prevotella, and Clostridium Using a correlation network modeling approach, we identified unique bacterial modules that are significantly enriched in response to treatment and sex, composed of Clostridial taxa and several Firmicutes known to be protective in EAE. Together, these data demonstrate the potential of alcohol to significantly alter the course of autoimmunity differentially in males and females via effects on gut bacterial networks and support further need to evaluate dose and sex-specific alcohol effects in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune neuroinflammatory conditions.