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Alcohol 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Division of Endocrine and Metabolic Disease, Center for Biomedical Sciences, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28159, South Korea.

Background: Excessive alcohol consumption is a major public health problem in East Asian countries. Alcohol use leads to a cascade of problems including increased chances of risky behavior and wide range of negative health consequences from alcoholic liver disease to upper gastric and liver cancer. These alcohol effects are known to be influenced by ethnic variability and genetics. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

The University of Texas at Austin; Institute for Neuroscience; Department of Psychology. Electronic address:

The ability of environmental cues to trigger alcohol seeking behaviors is believed to facilitate problematic alcohol use. We previously showed that the development of this cue-evoked alcohol approach reflects cue-alcohol learning and memory in the adult male rat; however, we do not know whether the same is true for similarly aged female rats. Consequently, adult Long-Evans female rats were allowed to drink unsweetened alcohol in the homecage (MWF 24 hr two-bottle choice, 5 weeks) and subsequently split into two experimental groups: paired and unpaired. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacodynamics, Medical University, Lublin, Poland.

Research has shown that opioids are involved in the rewarding effects of ethanol. Neuropeptyde FF (NPFF) has been described as an anti-opioid peptide because it, in many cases, inhibits opioid and ethanol effects in rodents. Kissorphin (KSO) is a new peptide derived from kisspeptin-10 with structural similarities to NPFF. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Neurosciences Research Center (NSRC), Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address:

The present study investigates the potential neuroprotective effect of cerebrolysin (CBL), a combination of neurotrophic factors, on the cognitive and biochemical alterations induced by chronic ethanol administration in rats. The animals were divided into 5 groups as follows: Control, ethanol (4 g/kg, for 30 days) plus normal saline (Ethanol + NS), ethanol plus CBL 1 ml/kg (Ethanol + CBL 1), ethanol plus CBL 2.5 ml/kg (Ethanol + CBL 2. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Division of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI 54702. Electronic address:

Addiction has been conceptualized as a specific form of memory that appropriates typically adaptive neural mechanisms of learning to produce the progressive spiral of drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior, perpetuating the path to addiction through aberrant processes of drug-related learning and memory. From that perspective, to understand the development of alcohol use disorders it is critical to identify how a single exposure to alcohol enters into or alters the processes of learning and memory, so that involvement of and changes in neuroplasticity processes responsible for learning and memory can be identified early on. This review characterizes the effects produced by acute alcohol intoxication as a function of brain region and memory neurocircuitry. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Mar 16. Epub 2019 Mar 16.

Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Unit of Forensic Medicine, University of Verona, Italy; Institute of Pharmacy and Translational Medicine, Sechenov First Medical University, Moscow, Russia. Electronic address:

Asialo-human transferrin (asialo-hTf) is a glycoform of the human serum protein transferrin characterized by the lack of the sialic acid (SA) terminal unit. It is known that glycosylation micro-heterogeneity and the presence of SA are strongly involved in protein functioning and patho-physiological activities. Some hTf glycoforms are valuable biomarkers for the detection of both genetic defects of glycosylation and/or sialoform distribution changes. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Mar 16. Epub 2019 Mar 16.

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Research Unit, Seinäjoki Central Hospital and Tampere University, 60220 Seinäjoki, Finland. Electronic address:

Background: While alcohol use is linked with a wide variety of health problems, the question whether differences in drinking patterns could yield different outcomes has remained unclear.

Patients And Methods: We measured liver enzymes (ALT, GGT) from alcohol consumers with or without binge drinking from a population-based sample in Finland, where binge-type drinking is common. Data on alcohol use, diet, body weight, lifestyle (smoking, coffee consumption, physical activity) and health status were collected from 19,225 subjects (9,492 men, 9,733 women), aged 25-74 years. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Aug 23;77:101-112. Epub 2018 Aug 23.

Postgraduate Program in Pathology, Pathology Research Laboratory, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Electronic address:

Exposure to cigarette smoke and ethanol are proposed to trigger neurotoxicity, apoptosis, and to impair neuronal signaling. However, it is little known how the combination of both might trigger astrogliosis and the morphological changes capable of affecting a differential susceptibility of hippocampal regions to these licit drugs. The present study investigated the chronic effects of exposure to cigarette smoke and/or ethanol on behavioral parameters, apoptosis, and alteration in immunoreactivity of glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) and S100β in the CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG) of the rat hippocampus. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Mar 6. Epub 2019 Mar 6.

Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1601 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60612 USA. Electronic address:

Withdrawal from chronic alcohol drinking can cause depression, leading to an inability to function in daily life and an increased risk for relapse to harmful drinking. Understanding the causes of alcohol withdrawal-related depression may lead to new therapeutic targets for treatment. Epigenetic factors have recently emerged as important contributors to both depression and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Read More

Alcohol 2019 Feb 21. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Binghamton University, PO Box 6000, Binghamton NY 13902. Electronic address:

Studies in rats have revealed marked age differences in sensitivity to the aversive properties of ethanol, with a developmental insensitivity to ethanol aversion that is most pronounced during pre- and early adolescence, declining thereafter to reach the enhanced aversive sensitivity of adults. The adolescent brain undergoes significant transitions throughout adolescence, including in regions linked with drug reward and aversion; however, it is unknown how ontogenetic changes within this reward/aversion circuitry contribute to developmental differences in aversive sensitivity. The current study examined early adolescent (postnatal day [P]28-30) and adult (P72-74) Sprague-Dawley male rats for conditioned taste aversion (CTA) after doses of 0, 1. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Feb 21. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Binghamton University, PO Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902 USA. Electronic address:

Alcohol consumption is typically initiated during adolescence, with the incidence of binge drinking (production of blood ethanol concentrations [BECs] > 80mg/dl) peaking during this stage of development. Studies in outbred rats investigating the consequences of adolescent ethanol exposure have typically employed intragastric, vapor, or intraperitoneal administration to attain BECs in this range. While these procedures have yielded valuable data regarding the consequences of adolescent exposure, they are varyingly stressful, administer the full dose at once, and/or bypass digestion. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jul 24;77:27-30. Epub 2018 Jul 24.

Medanta Institute of Liver Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine, Medanta The Medicity, Gurgaon, Delhi (NCR), India.

Introduction: There are limited data on outcomes of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis.

Methods: The study included LDLT recipients for severe alcoholic hepatitis (n = 39) who did not improve with medical treatment and compared their outcomes with patients who underwent LDLT for alcoholic liver disease (n = 461). The diagnosis of severe alcoholic hepatitis was based on both clinical and explants data. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Feb 12. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Division of Cardiology, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address:

Background And Aims: Heavy alcohol use is a risk factor for disease and mortality; however epidemiological findings have demonstrated protective effects of a light-to-moderate intake of alcohol on cardiovascular health. There are many misconceptions regarding appropriate levels of alcohol intake and the risks and benefits of consumption. We sought to examine physician attitudes and recommendations regarding alcohol intake in a cohort of Uruguayan cardiologists. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Feb 12. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

University of Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland and Seinäjoki Central Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, 60220 Seinäjoki, Finland.

Introduction: The studies on the relations between alcohol consumption, the status of inflammation and depression have produced conflicting results. In this study we followed patients with major depressive disorders by monitoring biomarkers of inflammation together with biomarkers of heavy alcohol use.

Method: The levels of IL-6 (interleukin-6), IL-8 (interleukin-8), hs-CRP (high sensitivity C-reactive protein), YKL-40 (also known as Chitinase-3-like protein 1 or CHI3L1) and biomarkers of alcohol consumption and liver status (GT, CDT, ALT, alkaline phosphatase) were measured at baseline and after 6 months of psychiatric treatment from 242 patients suffering from current major depressive disorder (MDD) with (n = 99) or without (n = 143) alcohol use disorder (AUD). Read More

Alcohol 2018 Aug 24;77:11-18. Epub 2018 Aug 24.

Department of Surgery, Alcohol Research Program, Burn & Shock Trauma Research Institute, Loyola University Chicago Health Sciences Division, Maywood, IL, United States. Electronic address:

On January 26, 2018, the 23rd annual Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meeting was held at the University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado. The meeting consisted of plenary sessions with oral presentations and a poster presentation session. There were four plenary sessions that covered a wide range of topics relating to alcohol use: Alcohol and Liver Disease; Alcohol, Inflammation and Immune Response; Alcohol and Organ Injury; Heath Consequences and Alcohol Drinking. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Aug 29;76:117-129. Epub 2018 Aug 29.

Third Department of Cardiology, Athens University School of Medicine, Athens, Greece. Electronic address:

Background: In addition to its established harmful effects on the liver and other organs, heavy alcohol use confers deleterious effects on the cardiovascular (CV) system, as well. However, data have emerged that light/moderate alcohol consumption (1 drink/day for women and 1-2 drinks/day for men) may be protective against CV disease.

Objective/methods: English articles regarding the CV effects of alcohol/ethanol were reviewed by search in Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 30. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Box G-S121-5, Providence, RI 02912, USA.

Background: Transdermal alcohol sensing technology allows for objective continuous monitoring of alcohol use. The purpose of this study was to characterize alcohol consumption measured with this technology among alcohol use disorder treatment outpatients in two clinical trials.

Methods: Participants were community-based alcohol treatment outpatients in usual care (N = 63) during the first three years of studies that monitored drinking with the secure continuous remote alcohol monitor (SCRAMx®) ankle bracelet. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 25. Epub 2019 Jan 25.

Division of Nutritional Physiology, Department of Dietetics, Faculty of Human Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS-SGGW), Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address:

Beer is one of the most popular type of alcoholic beverage consumed by young people, that is associated with ethanol intake resulted in harmful effects also within the reproductive system. Bioactive compounds occurring in beer may diminish the toxic effect of ethanol. However, there is still too little of knowledge about the effect of beer consumption on hormonal regulation of male reproduction in organisms exposed to alcohol since peripubertal age. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Aug 4;76:111-115. Epub 2018 Aug 4.

Department of Research Administration, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, United States.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) on the occurrence of pneumonia and sepsis among traumatic injury victims.

Methods: Retrospective study data were retrieved from the 2007-2010 National Trauma Data Bank and included all patients ≥14 years of age, with a "blunt" or "penetrating" injury, who were taken to a level 1 or level 2 trauma center, had complete systolic blood pressure and heart rate records, and had a confirmed blood alcohol test at the time of hospital arrival. Patients' characteristics and outcome information were compared between two groups (those with a BAC above the legal limit [>0. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 18. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Spain.

Men who misuse alcohol tend to experience negative affect, which may entail difficulties regulating emotions to cope effectively with stressful or anxiety-provoking situations, increasing the risk of alcohol relapse. This dysphoric state has been associated with alexithymia, which compromises an individual's abilities to acknowledge, recognize and regulate emotional states. A physiological correlate of emotional regulation is autonomic flexibility, emotional dysregulation in men who misuse alcohol being correlated with reduced parasympathetic activation to control heart rate variability during stress and/or conflict situations. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 18. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston SC 29425, United States. Electronic address:

The abuse of alcohol during adolescence is widespread and represents a particular concern given that earlier age of drinking onset is associated with increased risk for the development of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Despite this risk, it remains unclear whether binge-like adolescent alcohol exposure facilitates drinking despite aversive consequences, a characteristic common among individuals with AUDs. The present study examined voluntary alcohol consumption and aversion-resistant drinking in adult male Long-Evans rats that had undergone adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure by vapor inhalation between post-natal days (PD) 28-44. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 18;77:147-154. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

Center for Regenerative Medicine, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Minami Kogushi 1-1-1, Ube, Yamaguchi, 755-8505, Japan; Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, 755-8505, Japan.

Alcohol has long been acknowledged to be one of the main causes of hepatic disorders. In recent years, with the advancements in antiviral therapies, the relative proportion that alcoholic liver disease contributes among liver diseases has increased, necessitating the establishment of a useful model for the elucidation of the mechanism of its development. In this study, we developed a model of alcoholic liver disease using medaka, a small-sized fish known for its usefulness as a model organism. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 17. Epub 2019 Jan 17.

Social and Administrative Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University. Bangkok, Thailand. Electronic address:

Aims: To identify the extent to which patients admitted to a general hospital in Vietnam meet the criteria for risky alcohol drinking, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS), describe problems and behavior of alcohol use such as types and quantity of alcohol drinking in a hospitalized population in Vietnam and investigate the association among age, disease-related factors and alcohol consumption with AWS.

Methods: This study was conducted prospectively in 1340 patients admitted to a general hospital. All patients were screened for risky alcohol drinking. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 11;79:47-57. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Designer Drug Unit, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 251 Bayview Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21224, United States.

Ethanol-paired conditioned stimuli (CSs) are widely thought to invigorate ethanol responding, and thus, precipitate relapse to drinking. However, preclinical studies investigating this issue using Pavlovian-Instrumental-Transfer (PIT) procedures have had mixed results, with some studies finding PIT while others did not. The studies failing to show PIT used Lewis rats and induced ethanol drinking using a post-prandial drinking procedure. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Mar 10;75:99-103. Epub 2018 Aug 10.

Food Technology and Nutrition Group, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)-NRC Campus, P.O. Box 143, Lilongwe, Malawi.

This study assessed the ethanol and methanol contents of homemade spirit (Kachasu) sold in Blantyre, Malawi. The likelihood of ethanol and methanol toxicity, respectively, was determined through Monte Carlo simulations using reported Kachasu intake volumes of 21 consumers and the determined methanol and ethanol contents. Ethanol concentration, in samples from 20 different distillers, ranged from 11 to 55% v/v. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Mar 24;75:113-121. Epub 2018 Jul 24.

Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Korea University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

In reference to the auditory manifestation of fetal alcohol syndrome, previous work has preferentially focused on the deviant neural development of the auditory system. Changes in the sensory hair cell, the ultimate sensory organ, were not well understood. In this study, we carried out an in vivo assessment of the embryonic hair cell changes on the lateral line of zebrafish upon exposure to various ethanol concentrations (0. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Mar 19;75:105-112. Epub 2018 Jul 19.

Federal University of Maranhao, Sao Luis, Brazil. Electronic address:

The consequences of alcohol use are closely related to its pattern of intake. The aim of this study is to analyze the pattern of alcohol use by doctors and nurses. Associated co-factors have also been considered. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 8. Epub 2019 Jan 8.

Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States; Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States.

The short term effects of alcohol on gene expression in brain tissue cannot directly be studied in humans. Because neuroimmune signaling is altered by alcohol, immune cells are a logical, accessible choice to study and might provide biomarkers. RNAseq was used to study the effects of 48 h exposure to ethanol on lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from 21 alcoholics and 21 controls. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Feb 19;74:29-38. Epub 2018 Jun 19.

Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States; Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States. Electronic address:

Optogenetic techniques have been widely used in the study of neuropsychiatric diseases such as anxiety, depression, and drug addiction. Cell-type specific targeting of optogenetic tools to neurons has contributed to a tremendous understanding of the function of neural circuits for future treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Though optogenetics has been widely used in many research areas, the use of optogenetic tools to uncover and elucidate neural circuit mechanisms of alcohol's actions in the brain are still developing. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Feb 7;74:11-19. Epub 2018 Mar 7.

Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 6060 Biomedical Science Tower-3, 3501 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, United States; Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 6060 Biomedical Science Tower-3, 3501 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, United States; Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 6060 Biomedical Science Tower-3, 3501 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, United States. Electronic address:

Genetically engineered animals are powerful tools that have provided invaluable insights into mechanisms of alcohol action and alcohol-use disorder. Traditionally, production of gene-targeted animals was a tremendously expensive, time consuming, and technically demanding undertaking. However, the recent advent of facile methods for editing the genome at very high efficiency is revolutionizing how these animals are made. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Oct 25;77:91-99. Epub 2018 Oct 25.

University of Colorado, Institute for Behavioral Genetics, 1480 30th Street, 447 University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309-0447, United States; Department of Integrative Physiology, 354 University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309-0354, United States. Electronic address:

The mesolimbic dopaminergic reward pathway is activated by both alcohol and exercise, suggesting exercise as a possible treatment or preventative method for alcohol-use disorders (AUDs). Prior studies conducted in our lab have demonstrated the hedonic substitution of voluntary alcohol consumption for voluntary wheel running in female C57Bl/6Ibg mice, and a trend in male C57Bl/6Ibg mice. Given the important contribution of genetic background on AUDs, this study aims to assess the effects of voluntary wheel running on voluntary alcohol consumption in two moderate alcohol-consuming strains of mice, C3H/Ibg and 129/SvEvTac. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Aug 17;76:91-102. Epub 2018 Aug 17.

The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States; Institute for Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States; Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States. Electronic address:

Alcohol self-administration produces brain and behavior adaptations that facilitate a progressive loss of control over drinking and contribute to relapse. One possible adaptation is the ability of antecedent environmental stimuli that are consistently paired with alcohol to trigger alcohol-seeking behaviors. We previously modeled this adaptation in rats using a Pavlovian conditioning procedure in which illumination of a houselight preceded the presentation of a sipper tube that produced unsweetened alcohol when licked. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Jan 3;79:71-79. Epub 2019 Jan 3.

Department of Internal Medicine, Divisions of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, United States; VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, Omaha, NE, United States. Electronic address:

Background: We previously reported that nanoformulated copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Nano) attenuates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and adipose tissue (AT) inflammation in obese animals. Here, we sought to determine whether Nano treatment attenuates alcohol-associated liver disease (AALD) and AT inflammation in alcohol-fed mice.

Methods: We pre-treated E-47 cells (HepG2 cells that over-express CYP2E1) with native- or nano-superoxide dismutase (SOD) for 6 h, followed by treatment with ethanol and/or linoleic acid (LA), a free fatty acid. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Aug 21;76:81-89. Epub 2018 Aug 21.

Department of Cellular Biology & Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, United States. Electronic address:

Low-dose alcohol consumption (LAC) has been shown to suppress post-ischemic inflammation and alleviate cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Cystathionine γ-Lyase (CSE) is one of the enzymes that endogenously produce hydrogen sulfide (HS), which has an anti-inflammatory property at low concentration. We determined the potential role of CSE in the protective effect of LAC. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Dec 29;79:59-69. Epub 2018 Dec 29.

Binghamton University, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, NY, 13902, United States.

The present set of experiments investigated the effects of a moderate dose of ethanol (2 g/kg; 20% v/v intragastrically) during late gestation (G17-20 [gestational day]) on ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in adolescence, and on ethanol consumption during adolescence and early adulthood. In experiment 1, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were given 30-min access to a sweetened "supersaccharin" (SS) solution or sodium chloride (NaCl), followed by an intraperitoneal injection of 20% ethanol (0, 1, 1.25, or 1. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Aug 8;76:73-79. Epub 2018 Aug 8.

KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven - University of Leuven, University Psychiatric Centre (UPC) KU Leuven, Leuven-Kortenberg, Belgium.

Low physical fitness and physical inactivity have been recognized as prominent behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality. To date, no studies have ystematically assessed physical fitness and physical activity in patients with alcohol use disorders (AUD) vs. a healthy comparison group. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Aug 9;76:65-71. Epub 2018 Aug 9.

Department of Psychology, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, United States. Electronic address:

Alcohol use is associated with a variety of negative consequences, including heightened likelihood of cognitive impairment, proclivity to alcohol use disorders (AUD), and alterations in the drinker's offspring. Children and rodents exposed to alcohol during pregnancy, or those whose fathers consumed alcohol prior to mating, often exhibit neurodevelopmental, physiological, and behavioral deficits. The present study assessed cognitive function and alcohol intake in male and female rats that were offspring of alcohol-exposed fathers. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jul 17;76:59-63. Epub 2018 Jul 17.

Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bühlstrasse 20, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Several studies showed that chronic ethanol exposure can cause color vision deficiencies. There has been no agreement about the axis of color defects due to alcohol misuse since changes in the red-green and the blue-yellow axis have been described in literature. The acute influence of alcohol on the blue-yellow color vision has not been studied as well. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Dec 20. Epub 2018 Dec 20.

Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana. Electronic address:

Ethanol has been found to affect pulmonary cells by interfering with vitamin D metabolism and pulmonary defense mechanisms. The objective of this study was to understand the mechanisms of ethanol's disruptive influence on the vitamin D pathway and inhibition of anti-microbial peptide cathelicidin (LL-37). Bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2Bs), primary human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs), primary human alveolar epithelial cells (HPAEpiCs), and human monocyte cells (THP-1s) were used in this study. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Dec 20. Epub 2018 Dec 20.

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States. Electronic address:

Background: We previously reported that maternal alcohol use significantly increases the risk of sepsis in premature and term newborns. In the mouse, fetal ethanol exposure results in an immunosuppressed phenotype for the alveolar macrophage (AM) and decreases bacterial phagocytosis. In pregnant mice, ethanol decreased AM zinc homeostasis which contributed to immunosuppression and impaired AM phagocytosis. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jul 22;76:47-57. Epub 2018 Jul 22.

Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, United States. Electronic address:

We have reported that moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) elevates histamine H receptor-mediated inhibition of glutamatergic neurotransmission in dentate gyrus (DG), and that the H receptor antagonist ABT-239 ameliorates PAE-induced deficits in DG long-term potentiation. Here, we investigated whether PAE alters other markers of histaminergic neurotransmission. Long-Evans rat dams voluntarily consumed either a 0% or a 5% ethanol solution 4 h each day throughout gestation. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jul 17;76:37-45. Epub 2018 Jul 17.

Department of Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States; Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States; Dorris Neuroscience Center, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States.

Alcohol produces complex effects on the immune system. Moderate alcohol use (1-2 drinks per day) has been shown to produce anti-inflammatory responses in human blood monocytes, whereas, the post mortem brains of severe alcoholics show increased immune gene expression and activated microglial markers. The present study was conducted to evaluate the time course of alcohol effects during exposure and after withdrawal, and to determine the relationship between microglial and cytokine responses in brain and blood. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jul 17;76:29-36. Epub 2018 Jul 17.

RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, United States.

Among those in close relationships, the perception that one's partner has a drinking problem is more strongly related to detriments in relationship quality than are the actual rates of the partner's drinking. The current study extends this work by examining the effects of this perception on relationship functioning longitudinally and whether this association is mediated by changes in how one behaves in response to their partner's drinking. Spouses and partners of military service members who were concerned about their partner's drinking (n = 234) completed a baseline survey and a follow-up assessment five months later. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jun 12;76:23-28. Epub 2018 Jun 12.

School of Health and Society, University of Salford, Salford, England, United Kingdom.

Disentangling the relative developmental impact of prenatal alcohol exposure from postnatal neglect is clinically valuable for informing future service provision. In this study, developmental outcomes across groups are compared in a 'natural experiment'.

Methods: Clinical data from 99 persons with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) diagnoses were audited. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Dec 7;79:25-35. Epub 2018 Dec 7.

Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY 40536, United States; Lexington Veterans Administration Health Care System, Research & Development, 1101 Veterans Drive, Lexington, KY 40502, United States. Electronic address:

Developmental exposure to ethanol may cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), and the immature central nervous system (CNS) is particularly vulnerable to ethanol. In addition to vulnerability in the developing brain, we previously showed that ethanol also caused neuroapoptosis, microglial activation, and neuroinflammation in the spinal cord. Minocycline is an antibiotic that inhibits microglial activation and alleviates neuroinflammation. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Dec 6. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, OR; VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR. Electronic address:

Human studies reported that the number of past-year stressors was positively related to current drinking patterns, including binge drinking. In animal models, exposure to predator odor stress (PS), considered a model of traumatic stress, consistently increased ethanol intake. Recently, we reported that repeated PS significantly increased ethanol intake and had a synergistic interaction with prior binge drinking (binge group) in male but not in female C57BL/6J mice, when compared to mice without prior binge exposure (control group). Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jun 26;76:15-21. Epub 2018 Jun 26.

Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

The current case-control study comprehensively evaluated the status, quantity, and duration of smoking and alcohol drinking for both men and women, considering the subsites of colorectal cancer. A total of 925 colorectal cancer cases and 2775 controls were included in the analysis. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed by logistic regression models adjusting for potential confounders. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jul 11;76:11-14. Epub 2018 Jul 11.

Discipline of Pathology, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Electronic address:

Both pathological and neuroimaging studies have shown that chronic alcohol abuse causes generalized white matter, but limited gray matter, volume loss. Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that tobacco smoking also causes brain atrophy in both alcoholics and neurologically normal individuals. However, a recent pathological study, employing a manual technique to determine regional volumes, found no significant effects of smoking on either global or selected regional gray matter volumes in smokers or smoking alcoholics. Read More

Alcohol 2018 Jun 28;76:1-10. Epub 2018 Jun 28.

School of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address:

Background: Alcohol-related pancreatitis is common and the gastrointestinal tract plays an important role in the regulation of pancreatic exocrine function. While the relationship between pancreatic proteolytic enzymes and insulin (as well as other pancreatic hormones) has been investigated in detail, little is known about the relationship between pancreatic proteolytic enzymes and gastrointestinal humoral factors. The aim of this study was to study the associations between trypsin, chymotrypsin, and a panel of gastrointestinal humoral factors in patients after an episode of alcohol-related versus non-alcohol-related pancreatitis. Read More

Alcohol 2019 Mar 31;75:89-97. Epub 2018 May 31.

Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistonranta 1, 70210 Kuopio, Finland; Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Kuopio University Hospital, Puijonlaaksontie 2, 70210 Kuopio, Finland.

Our aim was to analyze metabolite profile changes in serum associated with moderate-to-heavy consumption of alcohol in young adults and to evaluate whether these changes are connected to reduced brain gray matter volumes. These study population consisted of young adults with a 10-year history of moderate-to-heavy alcohol consumption (n = 35) and light-drinking controls (n = 27). We used the targeted liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method to measure concentrations of metabolites in serum, and 3. Read More