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Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental... Feb 2017Decades of alcohol research have established the health risks and pharmacodynamic profile of oral alcohol consumption. Despite isolated periods of public health concern,... (Review)
Review
Decades of alcohol research have established the health risks and pharmacodynamic profile of oral alcohol consumption. Despite isolated periods of public health concern, comparatively less research has evaluated exposure to alcohol vapor. Inhaled alcohol initially bypasses first-pass metabolism and rapidly reaches the arterial circulation and the brain, suggesting that this route of administration may be associated with pharmacological effects that increase the risk of addiction. However, detailed reviews assessing the possible effects of inhaled alcohol in humans are lacking. A comprehensive, systematic literature review was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed to examine manuscripts studying exposure to inhaled alcohol and measurement of biomarkers (biochemical or functional) associated with alcohol consumption in human participants. Twenty-one publications reported on alcohol inhalation. Fourteen studies examined inhalation of alcohol vapor associated with occupational exposure (e.g., hand sanitizer) in a variety of settings (e.g., naturalistic, laboratory). Six publications measured inhalation of alcohol in a controlled laboratory chamber, and 1 evaluated direct inhalation of an e-cigarette with ethanol-containing "e-liquid." Some studies have reported that inhalation of alcohol vapor results in measurable biomarkers of acute alcohol exposure, most notably ethyl glucuronide. Despite the lack of significantly elevated blood alcohol concentrations, the behavioral consequences and subjective effects associated with repeated use of devices capable of delivering alcohol vapor are yet to be determined. No studies have focused on vulnerable populations, such as adolescents or individuals with alcohol use disorder, who may be most at risk of problems associated with alcohol inhalation.
Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Adolescent; Alcohol Drinking; Animals; Central Nervous System Depressants; Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems; Ethanol; Humans; Vaping
PubMed: 28054395
DOI: 10.1111/acer.13291 -
Journal of Medical Internet Research Apr 2022There are a range of wearable transdermal alcohol sensors that are available and are being developed. These devices have the potential to monitor alcohol consumption... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
There are a range of wearable transdermal alcohol sensors that are available and are being developed. These devices have the potential to monitor alcohol consumption continuously over extended periods in an objective manner, overcoming some of the limitations of other alcohol measurement methods (blood, breath, and urine).
OBJECTIVE
The objective of our systematic review was to assess wearable transdermal alcohol sensor accuracy.
METHODS
A systematic search of the CINAHL, Embase, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Scopus bibliographic databases was conducted in February 2021. In total, 2 team members (EB and SH) independently screened studies for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. The methodological quality of each study was appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The primary outcome was transdermal alcohol sensor accuracy. The data were presented as a narrative synthesis.
RESULTS
We identified and analyzed 32 studies. Study designs included laboratory, ambulatory, and mixed designs, as well as randomized controlled trials; the length of time for which the device was worn ranged from days to weeks; and the analyzed sample sizes ranged from 1 to 250. The results for transdermal alcohol concentration data from various transdermal alcohol sensors were generally found to positively correlate with breath alcohol concentration, blood alcohol concentration, and self-report (moderate to large correlations). However, there were some discrepancies between study reports; for example, WrisTAS sensitivity ranged from 24% to 85.6%, and specificity ranged from 67.5% to 92.94%. Higher malfunctions were reported with the BACtrack prototype (16%-38%) and WrisTAS (8%) than with SCRAM (2%); however, the former devices also reported a reduced time lag for peak transdermal alcohol concentration values when compared with SCRAM. It was also found that many companies were developing new models of wearable transdermal alcohol sensors.
CONCLUSIONS
As shown, there is a lack of consistency in the studies on wearable transdermal alcohol sensor accuracy regarding study procedures and analyses of findings, thus making it difficult to draw direct comparisons between them. This needs to be considered in future research, and there needs to be an increase in studies directly comparing different transdermal alcohol sensors. There is also a lack of research investigating the accuracy of transdermal alcohol sensors as a tool for monitoring alcohol consumption in clinical populations and use over extended periods. Although there is some preliminary evidence suggesting the accuracy of these devices, this needs to be further investigated in clinical populations.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
PROSPERO CRD42021231027; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=231027.
Topics: Alcohol Drinking; Blood Alcohol Content; Ethanol; Humans; Monitoring, Physiologic; Wearable Electronic Devices
PubMed: 35436239
DOI: 10.2196/35178 -
World Journal of Microbiology &... Oct 2018Microbes are capable of producing alcohols, making them an important source of alternative energy that can replace fossil fuels. However, these alcohols can be toxic to... (Review)
Review
Microbes are capable of producing alcohols, making them an important source of alternative energy that can replace fossil fuels. However, these alcohols can be toxic to the microbes themselves, retaring or inhibiting cell growth and decreasing the production yield. One solution is improving the alcohol tolerance of such alcohol-producing organisms. Advances in omics technologies, including transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and genomic technologies, have helped us understand the complex mechanisms underlying alcohol toxicity, and such advances could assist in devising strategies for engineering alcohol-tolerant strains. This review highlights these advances and discusses strategies for improving alcohol tolerance using omics analyses.
Topics: Adaptation, Biological; Alcohols; Bacteria; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Drug Tolerance; Ethanol; Genomics; Metabolic Engineering; Metabolomics; Proteomics
PubMed: 30341456
DOI: 10.1007/s11274-018-2542-4 -
Neuropharmacology Aug 2017Alcohol has many effects on brain function and hence on human behavior, ranging from anxiolytic and mild disinhibitory effects, sedation and motor incoordination,... (Review)
Review
Alcohol has many effects on brain function and hence on human behavior, ranging from anxiolytic and mild disinhibitory effects, sedation and motor incoordination, amnesia, emesis, hypnosis and eventually unconsciousness. In recent years a variety of studies have shown that acute and chronic exposure to alcohol can modulate ion channels that regulate excitability. Modulation of intrinsic excitability provides another way in which alcohol can influence neuronal network activity, in addition to its actions on synaptic inputs. In this review, we review "low dose" effects [between 2 and 20 mM EtOH], and "medium dose"; effects [between 20 and 50 mM], by considering in turn each of the many networks and brain regions affected by alcohol, and thereby attempt to integrate in vitro physiological studies in specific brain regions (e.g. amygdala, ventral tegmental area, prefrontal cortex, thalamus, cerebellum etc.) within the context of alcohol's behavioral actions in vivo (e.g. anxiolysis, euphoria, sedation, motor incoordination). This article is part of the Special Issue entitled "Alcoholism".
Topics: Animals; Brain; Ethanol; Humans; Neurons
PubMed: 28479395
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.04.007 -
Physiology & Behavior Sep 2015Alcohol possesses complex sensory attributes that are first detected by the body via sensory receptors and afferent fibers that promptly transmit signals to brain areas... (Review)
Review
Alcohol possesses complex sensory attributes that are first detected by the body via sensory receptors and afferent fibers that promptly transmit signals to brain areas involved in mediating ingestive motivation, reinforcement, and addictive behavior. Given that the chemosensory cues accompanying alcohol consumption are among the most intimate, consistent, and immediate predictors of alcohol's postabsorptive effects, with experience these stimuli also gain powerful associative incentive value to elicit craving and related physiologic changes, maintenance of ongoing alcohol use, and reinstatement of drug seeking after periods of abstinence. Despite the above, preclinical research has traditionally dichotomized alcohol's taste and postingestive influences as independent regulators of motivation to drink. The present review summarizes current evidence regarding alcohol's ability to directly activate peripheral and central oral chemosensory circuits, relevance for intake of the drug, and provides a framework for moving beyond a dissociation between the sensory and postabsorptive effects of alcohol to understand their neurobiological integration and significance for alcohol addiction.
Topics: Alcohol Drinking; Animals; Ethanol; Humans; Limbic System; Motivation; Sensation
PubMed: 25304192
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.09.004 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Sep 2022The field of alcohol intoxication sensing is over 100 years old, spanning the fields of medicine, chemistry, and computer science, aiming to produce the most effective... (Review)
Review
The field of alcohol intoxication sensing is over 100 years old, spanning the fields of medicine, chemistry, and computer science, aiming to produce the most effective and accurate methods of quantifying intoxication levels. This review presents the development and the current state of alcohol intoxication quantifying devices and techniques, separated into six major categories: estimates, breath alcohol devices, bodily fluid testing, transdermal sensors, mathematical algorithms, and optical techniques. Each of these categories was researched by analyzing their respective performances and drawbacks. We found that the major developments in monitoring ethanol intoxication levels aim at noninvasive transdermal/optical methods for personal monitoring. Many of the "categories" of ethanol intoxication systems overlap with each other with to a varying extent, hence the division of categories is based only on the principal operation of the techniques described in this review. In summary, the gold-standard method for measuring blood ethanol levels is through gas chromatography. Early estimation methods based on mathematical equations are largely popular in forensic fields. Breath alcohol devices are the most common type of alcohol sensors on the market and are generally implemented in law enforcement. Transdermal sensors vary largely in their sensing methodologies, but they mostly follow the principle of electrical sensing or enzymatic reaction rate. Optical devices and methodologies perform well, with some cases outperforming breath alcohol devices in terms of the precision of measurement. Other estimation algorithms consider multimodal approaches and should not be considered alcohol sensing devices, but rather as prospective measurement of the intoxication influence. This review found 38 unique technologies and techniques for measuring alcohol intoxication, which is testament to the acute interest in the innovation of noninvasive technologies for assessing intoxication.
Topics: Aged, 80 and over; Alcoholic Intoxication; Breath Tests; Ethanol; Forensic Medicine; Humans; Prospective Studies
PubMed: 36146167
DOI: 10.3390/s22186819 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Dec 2022We describe the carbonylation of a series of mono and dihydroxy derivatives of polyfluorinated alkylbenzenes and benzocycloalkenes with OH groups at benzylic positions...
We describe the carbonylation of a series of mono and dihydroxy derivatives of polyfluorinated alkylbenzenes and benzocycloalkenes with OH groups at benzylic positions using carbon monoxide in the presence of a superacid (TfOH, a TfOH-SbF mixture, or a FSOH-SbF mixture). It was shown that the superacid-catalyzed addition of CO to various primary and secondary polyfluorinated alcohols and diols gives the corresponding mono- and dicarboxylic acids or lactones. The efficiency of various superacids depending on alcohol structure was evaluated, and FSOH-SbF yielded the best results in most transformations. The addition of CO to secondary 1-arylalkan-1-ols containing vicinal fluorine atoms was found to be accompanied by elimination of HF with the formation of -unsaturated aryl-carboxylic acids. In contrast to primary and secondary alcohols, conversion of tertiary perfluoro-1,1-diarylalkan-1-ols into carbonylation products is not complete, and the resulting carboxylic acids are easily decarboxylated after water treatment of the reaction mixture.
Topics: Molecular Structure; Ethanol; Dicarboxylic Acids; Carbon Monoxide
PubMed: 36557890
DOI: 10.3390/molecules27248757 -
Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology &... Feb 2016Several studies have described a dose-dependent effect of alcohol on human health with light to moderate drinkers having a lower risk of all-cause mortality than... (Review)
Review
Several studies have described a dose-dependent effect of alcohol on human health with light to moderate drinkers having a lower risk of all-cause mortality than abstainers, while heavy drinkers are at the highest risk. In the case of the immune system, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with reduced inflammation and improved responses to vaccination, while chronic heavy drinking is associated with a decreased frequency of lymphocytes and increased risk of both bacterial and viral infections. However, the mechanisms by which alcohol exerts a dose-dependent effect on the immune system remain poorly understood due to a lack of systematic studies that examine the effect of multiple doses and different time courses. This review will summarize our current understanding of the impact of moderate versus excessive alcohol consumption on the innate and adaptive branches of the immune system derived from both in vitro as well as in vivo studies carried out in humans and animal model studies.
Topics: Alcohol-Related Disorders; Animals; Central Nervous System Depressants; Ethanol; Humans; Immune System
PubMed: 26375241
DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2015.09.001 -
International Journal of Environmental... Apr 2010Alcohol abuse is a serious medical and social problem. Although light to moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial to cardiovascular health, heavy drinking often... (Review)
Review
Alcohol abuse is a serious medical and social problem. Although light to moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial to cardiovascular health, heavy drinking often results in organ damage and social problems. In addition, genetic susceptibility to the effect of alcohol on cancer and coronary heart disease differs across the population. A number of mechanisms including direct the toxicity of ethanol, its metabolites [e.g., acetaldehyde and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs)] and oxidative stress may mediate alcoholic complications. Acetaldehyde, the primary metabolic product of ethanol, is an important candidate toxin in developing alcoholic diseases. Meanwhile, free radicals produced during ethanol metabolism and FAEEs are also important triggers for alcoholic damages.
Topics: Acetaldehyde; Alcoholism; Ethanol; Humans; Oxidative Stress; Polymorphism, Genetic
PubMed: 20617031
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph7041285 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2022The forensic toxicologist is challenged to provide scientific evidence to distinguish the source of ethanol (antemortem ingestion or microbial production) determined in... (Review)
Review
The forensic toxicologist is challenged to provide scientific evidence to distinguish the source of ethanol (antemortem ingestion or microbial production) determined in the postmortem blood and to properly interpret the relevant blood alcohol concentration (BAC) results, in regard to ethanol levels at death and subsequent behavioral impairment of the person at the time of death. Higher alcohols (1-propanol, 1-butanol, isobutanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol (isoamyl-alcohol), and 3-methyl-2-butanol (amyl-alcohol)) are among the volatile compounds that are often detected in postmortem specimens and have been correlated with putrefaction and microbial activity. This brief review investigates the role of the higher alcohols as biomarkers of postmortem, microbial ethanol production, notably, regarding the modeling of postmortem ethanol production. Main conclusions of this contribution are, firstly, that the higher alcohols are qualitative and quantitative indicators of microbial ethanol production, and, secondly that the respective models of microbial ethanol production are tools offering additional data to interpret properly the origin of the ethanol concentrations measured in postmortem cases. More studies are needed to clarify current uncertainties about the origin of higher alcohols in postmortem specimens.
Topics: Alcohols; Autopsy; Blood Alcohol Content; Butanols; Ethanol; Forensic Toxicology; Humans; Pentanols; Postmortem Changes; Propanols
PubMed: 35163964
DOI: 10.3390/molecules27030700