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Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental... Mar 2022Subjective response (SR) to alcohol represents a biobehavioral risk factor for heavy drinking and for developing alcohol use disorder (AUD). Identifying moderators of SR...
BACKGROUND
Subjective response (SR) to alcohol represents a biobehavioral risk factor for heavy drinking and for developing alcohol use disorder (AUD). Identifying moderators of SR have been hindered by small sample sizes that are often used in alcohol administration studies.
METHODS
This study combined data from multiple alcohol administration trials to test whether sex, family history of alcohol problems, and impulsivity (via delay discounting) predict SR to alcohol, comprised of four domains: stimulation, sedation, negative affect, and craving. Non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers (N = 250) completed a battery of self-report scales and behavioral measures of alcohol use and problems, mood, and impulsivity. All participants completed an intravenous alcohol administration session wherein SR domains were measured at baseline, 20, 40, and 60 mg%.
RESULTS
Analyses using multilevel modeling showed that male sex independently predicted higher alcohol-induced stimulation and alcohol craving, after controlling for other moderators. A family history of alcohol problems also independently predicted alcohol craving after controlling for other moderators.
CONCLUSIONS
Using a large sample and advanced data analytic methods, this study extends the literature on alcohol administration by identifying important moderators of SR in heavy drinkers: namely, male sex and family history of alcohol problems. These findings consolidate and extend a growing body of research aimed at differentiating individuals most likely to report the SR features that confer risk for AUD.
Topics: Alcohol Drinking; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Alcoholism; Craving; Ethanol; Humans; Male
PubMed: 35084054
DOI: 10.1111/acer.14783 -
Biomolecules Apr 2016Alcohol consumption causes damage to various organs and systems.[...].
Alcohol consumption causes damage to various organs and systems.[...].
Topics: Alcohol Dehydrogenase; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1; Ethanol; Humans; Liver; Oxidative Stress
PubMed: 27092531
DOI: 10.3390/biom6020020 -
Cx43 hemichannels and panx1 channels contribute to ethanol-induced astrocyte dysfunction and damage.Biological Research Apr 2024Alcohol, a widely abused drug, significantly diminishes life quality, causing chronic diseases and psychiatric issues, with severe health, societal, and economic...
BACKGROUND
Alcohol, a widely abused drug, significantly diminishes life quality, causing chronic diseases and psychiatric issues, with severe health, societal, and economic repercussions. Previously, we demonstrated that non-voluntary alcohol consumption increases the opening of Cx43 hemichannels and Panx1 channels in astrocytes from adolescent rats. However, whether ethanol directly affects astroglial hemichannels and, if so, how this impacts the function and survival of astrocytes remains to be elucidated.
RESULTS
Clinically relevant concentrations of ethanol boost the opening of Cx43 hemichannels and Panx1 channels in mouse cortical astrocytes, resulting in the release of ATP and glutamate. The activation of these large-pore channels is dependent on Toll-like receptor 4, P2X7 receptors, IL-1β and TNF-α signaling, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase. Notably, the ethanol-induced opening of Cx43 hemichannels and Panx1 channels leads to alterations in cytokine secretion, NO production, gliotransmitter release, and astrocyte reactivity, ultimately impacting survival.
CONCLUSION
Our study reveals a new mechanism by which ethanol impairs astrocyte function, involving the sequential stimulation of inflammatory pathways that further increase the opening of Cx43 hemichannels and Panx1 channels. We hypothesize that targeting astroglial hemichannels could be a promising pharmacological approach to preserve astrocyte function and synaptic plasticity during the progression of various alcohol use disorders.
Topics: Mice; Rats; Animals; Connexin 43; Astrocytes; Ethanol; Alcoholism; Cells, Cultured; Connexins; Nerve Tissue Proteins
PubMed: 38576018
DOI: 10.1186/s40659-024-00493-2 -
The Journal of Clinical Investigation Jun 2023
Topics: Ethanol; Alcohol Drinking
PubMed: 37040180
DOI: 10.1172/JCI167624 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2023(1) Background: Microbial conversion of gaseous molecules, such as CO, CO and H to valuable compounds, has come to the forefront since the beginning of the 21st century...
(1) Background: Microbial conversion of gaseous molecules, such as CO, CO and H to valuable compounds, has come to the forefront since the beginning of the 21st century due to increasing environmental concerns and the necessity to develop alternative technologies that contribute to a fast transition to a more sustainable era. Research efforts so far have focused on C1-C2 molecules, i.e., ethanol and methane, while interest in molecules with higher carbon atoms has also started to emerge. Research efforts have already started to pay off, and industrial installments on ethanol production from steel-mill off-gases as well as methane production from the CO generated in biogas plants are a reality. (2) Methodology: The present study addresses C4-C6 acids and butanol as target molecules and responds to how the inherent metabolic potential of mixed microbial consortia could be revealed and exploited based on the application of different enrichment methods (3) Results and Conclusions: In most of the enrichment series, the yield of C4-C6 acids was enhanced with supplementation of acetic acid and ethanol together with the gas substrates, resulting in a maximum of 43 and 68% (e-mol basis) for butyric and caproic acid, respectively. Butanol formation was also enhanced, to a lesser degree though and up to 9% (e-mol basis). Furthermore, the microbial community exhibited significant shifts depending on the enrichment conditions applied, implying that a more profound microbial analysis on the species level taxonomy combined with the development of minimal co-cultures could set the basis for discovering new microbial co-cultures and/or co-culturing schemes.
Topics: Carbon Dioxide; Bioreactors; Ethanol; Gases; Butanols; Methane
PubMed: 36985533
DOI: 10.3390/molecules28062562 -
Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental... Apr 2016Alcohol is an important nonessential component of diet, but the overall impact of drinking on bone health, especially at moderate levels, is not well understood. Bone... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Alcohol is an important nonessential component of diet, but the overall impact of drinking on bone health, especially at moderate levels, is not well understood. Bone health is important because fractures greatly reduce quality of life and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Regular alcohol consumption is most common following skeletal maturity, emphasizing the importance of understanding the skeletal consequences of drinking in adults.
METHODS
This review focuses on describing the complex effects of alcohol on the adult skeleton. Studies assessing the effects of alcohol on bone in adult humans as well as skeletally mature animal models published since the year 2000 are emphasized.
RESULTS
Light to moderate alcohol consumption is generally reported to be beneficial, resulting in higher bone mineral density (BMD) and reduced age-related bone loss, whereas heavy alcohol consumption is generally associated with decreased BMD, impaired bone quality, and increased fracture risk. Bone remodeling is the principal mechanism for maintaining a healthy skeleton in adults and dysfunction in bone remodeling can lead to bone loss and/or decreased bone quality. Light to moderate alcohol may exert beneficial effects in older individuals by slowing the rate of bone remodeling, but the impact of light to moderate alcohol on bone remodeling in younger individuals is less certain. The specific effects of alcohol on bone remodeling in heavy drinkers are even less certain because the effects are often obscured by unhealthy lifestyle choices, alcohol-associated disease, and altered endocrine signaling.
CONCLUSIONS
Although there have been advances in understanding the complex actions of alcohol on bone, much remains to be determined. Limited evidence implicates age, skeletal site evaluated, duration, and pattern of drinking as important variables. Few studies systematically evaluating the impact of these factors have been conducted and should be made a priority for future research. In addition, studies performed in skeletally mature animals have potential to reveal mechanistic insights into the precise actions of alcohol and associated comorbidity factors on bone remodeling.
Topics: Adult; Aging; Alcohol Drinking; Animals; Bone Density; Bone Remodeling; Ethanol; Humans; Osteoporosis
PubMed: 26971854
DOI: 10.1111/acer.13000 -
Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental... Oct 2022Front-loading is a drinking pattern in which alcohol intake is skewed toward the onset of reward access. This phenomenon has been reported across several different... (Review)
Review
Front-loading is a drinking pattern in which alcohol intake is skewed toward the onset of reward access. This phenomenon has been reported across several different alcohol self-administration protocols in a wide variety of species, including humans. The hypothesis of the current review is that front-loading emerges in response to the rewarding effects of alcohol and can be used to measure the motivation to consume alcohol. Alternative or additional hypotheses that we consider and contrast with the main hypothesis are that: (1) front-loading is directed at overcoming behavioral and/or metabolic tolerance and (2) front-loading is driven by negative reinforcement. Evidence for each of these explanations is reviewed. We also consider how front-loading has been evaluated statistically in previous research and make recommendations for defining this intake pattern in future studies. Because front-loading may predict long-term maladaptive alcohol drinking patterns leading to the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD), several future directions are proposed to elucidate the relationship between front-loading and AUD.
Topics: Humans; Reward; Alcohol Drinking; Alcoholism; Ethanol; Motivation
PubMed: 36239713
DOI: 10.1111/acer.14924 -
Addiction (Abingdon, England) Nov 2022Transdermal alcohol sensors carry immense promise for the continuous assessment of drinking but are inconsistent in detecting more fine-grained indicators of alcohol... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Transdermal alcohol sensors carry immense promise for the continuous assessment of drinking but are inconsistent in detecting more fine-grained indicators of alcohol consumption. Prior studies examining associations between transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) and blood/breath alcohol concentration (BAC) have yielded highly variable correlations and lag times. The current review aimed to synthesize transdermal validation studies, aggregating results from more than three decades of research to characterize the validity of transdermal sensors for assessing alcohol consumption.
METHODS
Databases were searched for studies listed prior to 1 March 2022 that examined associations between transdermal alcohol sensor output and blood and breath-based alcohol measures, resulting in 31 primarily laboratory-derived participant samples (27 precise effect sizes) including both healthy and clinical populations. Correlation coefficients and lag times were pooled using three-level random-effects meta-regression. Independent raters coded study characteristics, including the body position of transdermal sensors (ankle- versus arm/hand/wrist-worn device) and methodological bias (e.g. missing data).
RESULTS
Analyses revealed that, in this primarily laboratory-derived sample of studies, the average correlation between TAC and BAC was large in magnitude [r = 0.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.80, 0.93], and TAC lagged behind BAC by an average of 95.90 minutes (95% CI = 55.50, 136.29). Device body position significantly moderated both TAC-BAC correlation (b = 0.11, P = 0.009) and lag time (b = -69.41, P < 0.001). Lag times for ankle-worn devices were approximately double those for arm/hand/wrist-worn devices, and TAC-BAC correlations also tended to be stronger for arm/hand/wrist-worn sensors.
CONCLUSIONS
This meta-analysis indicates that transdermal alcohol sensors perform strongly in assessing blood/breath alcohol concentration under controlled conditions, with particular promise for the newer generation of wrist-worn devices.
Topics: Alcohol Drinking; Biosensing Techniques; Blood Alcohol Content; Breath Tests; Ethanol; Humans
PubMed: 35603913
DOI: 10.1111/add.15953 -
Biomolecules Jun 2015Alcohol is a simple and consumable biomolecule yet its excessive consumption disturbs numerous biological pathways damaging nearly all organs of the human body. One of... (Review)
Review
Alcohol is a simple and consumable biomolecule yet its excessive consumption disturbs numerous biological pathways damaging nearly all organs of the human body. One of the essential biological processes affected by the harmful effects of alcohol is proteostasis, which regulates the balance between biogenesis and turnover of proteins within and outside the cell. A significant amount of published evidence indicates that alcohol and its metabolites directly or indirectly interfere with protein homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) causing an accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins, which triggers the unfolded protein response (UPR) leading to either restoration of homeostasis or cell death, inflammation and other pathologies under severe and chronic alcohol conditions. The UPR senses the abnormal protein accumulation and activates transcription factors that regulate nuclear transcription of genes related to ER function. Similarly, this kind of protein stress response can occur in other cellular organelles, which is an evolving field of interest. Here, I review recent advances in the alcohol-induced ER stress response as well as discuss new concepts on alcohol-induced mitochondrial, Golgi and lysosomal stress responses and injuries.
Topics: Animals; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress; Ethanol; Humans; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic; Lysosomes; Mitochondria; Unfolded Protein Response
PubMed: 26047032
DOI: 10.3390/biom5021099 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2024Accurate determination of the concentration of alcohols and their metabolites is important in forensics and in several life science areas. A new headspace gas...
Accurate determination of the concentration of alcohols and their metabolites is important in forensics and in several life science areas. A new headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method has been developed to quantify alcohols and their oxidative products using isotope-labeled internal standards. The limit of detection (LOD) of the analytes in the developed method was 0.211 µg/mL for methanol, 0.158 µg/mL for ethanol, 0.157 µg/mL for isopropanol, 0.010 µg/mL for n-propanol, 0.157 µg/mL for acetone, and 0.209 µg/mL for acetaldehyde. The precision and accuracy of the method were evaluated, and the relative standard deviation percentages were found to be less than 3%. This work demonstrates the application of this method, specifically in quantifying the concentration of oxidative products of alcohol and other minor alcohols found in hand sanitizers, which have become an essential household item since the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from the major components, the minor alcohols found in hand sanitizers include methanol, isopropanol, and n-propanol. The concentration range of these minor alcohols found in ethanol-based hand sanitizer samples was as follows: methanol, 0.000921-0.0151 mg/mL; isopropanol, 0.454-13.8 mg/mL; and n-propanol, 0.00474-0.152 mg/mL. In ethanol-based hand sanitizers, a significant amount of acetaldehyde (0.00623-0.231 mg/mL) was observed as an oxidation product, while in the isopropanol-based hand sanitizer, acetone (0.697 mg/mL) was observed as an oxidation product. The concentration of acetaldehyde in ethanol-based hand sanitizers significantly increased with storage time and temperature, whereas no such increase in acetone concentration was observed in isopropanol-based hand sanitizers with storage time and temperature. In two of the selected hand sanitizers, the acetaldehyde levels increased by almost 200% within a week when stored at room temperature. Additionally, exposing the hand sanitizers to a temperature of 45 °C for 24 h resulted in a 100% increase in acetaldehyde concentration. On the contrary, the acetone level remained constant upon the change in storage time and temperature.
Topics: Humans; Methanol; Acetaldehyde; Hand Sanitizers; Acetone; 2-Propanol; 1-Propanol; Temperature; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Pandemics; Ethanol
PubMed: 38248538
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21010074