Some reports about the relationship between bacterial infection
and cells treated with alcohol had been published before this study
[18,19]. These studies found that either acute or chronic alcohol
exposure reduced the cell’s fortification against bacteria at junctional
structures as well as, reduced the epithelial barrier’s capacity
to maintain tight junction integrity [18]. The synergy effect of
alcohol was especially effective at helping pathogenic bacteria to
disrupt cell barriers quickly compared to bacterial infection alone
[19]. These studies also demonstrated that RhoA signaling plays a
role in ethanol-induced tight junction openings. The contributions
of RhoA to an ethanol-induced increase in intestinal permeability
are associated with tight junction disassembly [20]. Thus, alcohol
has been shown to influence the cell barrier, even if the alcohol was
at a low concentration