Alcohol decreases the rate of alveolar fluid clearance and downregulates Na,K-ATPase <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i>.

<p>Mice were treated with ethanol (20%, 4 g/kg i.p.) or control vehicle (sterile w) daily for 5 days and (<b>A</b>) alveolar fluid clearance was measured and (<b>B</b>) basolateral membrane (BLM) abundance of α₁-subunit of the Na,K-ATPase in peripheral lung tissue was evaluated via immunoblotting 4 hours after the last dose. N = 7 mice/group for alveolar fluid clearance measurements and N = 3 for evaluation of Na,K-ATPase, *p<0.05 between alcohol and control vehicle. (<b>C, D</b>) Plasma membrane abundance of the α₁-subunit of the Na,K-ATPase in primary rat AEC was evaluated via immunoblotting (<b>C</b>) 30 minutes after treatment with different doses of ethanol and (<b>D</b>) for up to 30 minutes after treatment with high dose ethanol (100mM). N≥3 for all measures, *p<0.05 for comparison with untreated cells.