Alcohol Bottles Research Articles

Effectiveness of ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate in alcohol withdrawal

BACKGROUND: Alcohol (ethanol) use disorder is a destructive condition with alterations in impaired energy and metabolic processes and activation of free radical oxidation processes. Therefore, the use of antioxidants in the complex therapy of this pathology is pathogenetically justified, one of which is the original domestic drug ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate.
 AIM: To examine the effectiveness of ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate in intravenous, intramuscular, and intragastric methods of administration to male ICR mice in modeling alcohol withdrawal.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was performed on 9- to 10-week-old male specific pathogen-free mice of the ICR outflow with an average weight of 25.4 ± 0.2 g. Alcohol dependence in animals was modeled by a gradual increase in ethanol in the drinker from 1% to 3%, 6%, and 10% every 2 days. Upon reaching a concentration of 10%, the animals were given one bottle of alcohol and one bottle of water every other day and two bottles of alcohol on intermediate days. The position of the bottles (left/right) was changed between each alcohol access session. After 6 weeks, 10% alcohol was removed. The administration of ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate and saline solution (control group) was started twice a day for 7 days. Ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate was administered intravenously (50 and 100 mg/kg), intramuscularly (50 and 100 mg/kg), and intragastrically (100 and 150 mg/kg).
 RESULTS: Ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate was administered intravenously (50 and 100 mg/kg), intramuscularly (50 and 100 mg/kg), and intragastrically (100 and 150 mg/kg) two times a day for 7 days resulted in the manifestations of alcohol withdrawal in ICR mice with alcohol dependence. It had pronounced pharmacological activity, which manifested in a decrease in alcohol consumption, improvement of horizontal and vertical activities, improvement of movement coordination, and a decrease in the severity of withdrawal syndrome detected in the nesting ability test.
 CONCLUSION: When administered intravenously (50 and 100 mg/kg), intramuscularly (50 and 100 mg/kg), and intragastrically (100 and 150 mg/kg) to male mice, ICR had a pronounced therapeutic effect in modeling alcohol withdrawal.

The bear necessities: A sensitive qPCR assay for bear DNA detection from bile and derived products to complement wildlife forensic enforcement

Demand for bear bile, a prized component of traditional Asian medicines, threaten Asiatic and sun bear population sustainability. While laws exist to prevent poaching and trafficking of bear parts and derivatives, smuggling persists with demand extending to surrogate species, including American black bears (Ursus americanus). Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing can identify products putatively containing biological bear material but can be undermined by PCR inhibitors in bile and a lack of sensitivity at trace levels. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays can be used to distinguish between closely related target species, while concomitantly evaluating inhibition and false negative results in low quality/quantity DNA applications. Herein, we develop a multiplexed qPCR assay to detect and differentiate among bear species, including highly diluted bile samples mixed within liquors as common dilutants. The assay detects as little as 10 locus copies/reaction of bear DNA with 95% confidence, distinguishing among sun, Asiatic and American black bears. Demonstrating the sensitivity and applicability of this assay in context of current bile mixture recipes, dilutions of 1:5,000 bile with ethanol, red wine, and spirits, all yielded clear quantifiable detections, where our data suggests as little as 1 drop of bile per 750 mL bottle of alcohol would still exceed the limits of detection (e.g., 1:15000 dilution or <0.05 mL bile per 750 mL bottle). Overall, this study provides a rapid, sensitive, and specific test to identify and distinguish among bear species commonly used for bile production to aid wildlife enforcement applications.

Bike stunt gone wrong – Fatal Impalement by Liquor Bottle, landing into the death

Sharp force injuries are the leading cause of death worldwide. Accidental deaths due to sharp force wounds are extremely rare compared to homicide and suicide cases. Therefore, their exact incidence or prevalence is not accurately known. This paper presents an accidental death due to massive blood loss resulting from the sharp cutting of the left femoral artery by glass fragments that impaled the left groin region of a young male. He was allegedly performing a bike stunt under the influence of alcohol. The body was found in a pool of blood, surrounded by multiple glass fragments from a broken alcohol bottle that was lying shattered next to the body. The autopsy revealed a near-total transection of the left femoral artery and significant glass injuries to the skin. Evidence of self-mutilation and scarification in multiple body regions highlighted risky behavior. To determine the circumstances of death in cases of accidental glass injuries, a thorough medico legal investigation, including details of the death scene, post-mortem examination, and chemical analysis of viscera for any intoxicants or stupefying agents, is always necessary.

Anchor heuristics effect on heavy drinking in young people: Behavior economics perspective.

There is a need for theory-based approaches to reduce heavy drinking in youths. Anchoring is a process in which people make estimates by starting from an initial value that is adjusted to yield a final answer. In this study, we determined the effectiveness of anchoring heuristics in estimating the price of a bottle of alcohol and its effect on heavy drinking in young people. In a sample of 327 young people in Mexico, participants completed a survey on alcohol drinking and anchoring heuristics. We found that when the anchor was shown and the participants were explicitly directed to the anchor value, the mean estimates of the price reported by the participants increased, indicating that the participants were pulled up toward the anchor. Anchoring effects were found to affect on the willingness of the alcohol consumers to pay. In this context, alcohol prices (anchor condition) were higher for heavy drinking. We discuss the implications of our results and future directions for research on anchoring effects in heavy drinking. We concluded that anchoring provides novel insights into the consequences of anchoring effects in alcohol drinking.

Alcoholic Beverages as Part of Traditional Folk Culture of the Ukrainians in Slovakia

The article examines the role of alcoholic beverages as a component of the traditional folk culture of Ukrainians living in South-Eastern Slovakia. According to the research conducted in the area, the use of alcoholic beverages played an important role in family customs and ceremonies mainly in the pre-wedding period (sprosyny) and in the wedding ceremony itself when since ancient times a toast was considered a sign of the girl’s approval. Pouring out the rest of the alcohol from the glass when concluding the wedding agreement, in addition to ensuring a successful life for the young couple, also meant a sacrifice. A man whose duty was to pour alcoholic beverages at weddings and baptisms was called chopnar, while it was drunk from one glass. According to the customary tradition, they put the deceased’s favorite thing in the coffin, a bottle of alcohol to a drunkard, of course. In the past, even annual customs and ceremonies could not do without alcohol. Day of Andrew at spinning (Andriya na vechurkach) was known for its tradition of prophesies during which girls poured melted lead into cold water through a key and tried future according to the shape of the lead. According to the shape of the solidified lead, they tried to predict their future: if it had the shape of a bottle, the future man will be an alcoholic. It was customary on Christmas Eve to put an unthreshed sheaf of oats in the sacred corner of the room and put a liter bottle of alcohol in its center, which was drunk during the consumption of ritual meals. After dinner, the householder poured out the rest of the alcohol to ensure a good harvest and good weather. It was believed that a man was led to drunkenness by an evil, impure force, so they tried to protect themselves from it with magical acts. Consumption of alcoholic beverages is also reflected in proverbs and sayings, as well as in cheerful, joking drinking songs that were sung at weddings, christenings, temple holidays (kermes), feasts.

Alcohol industry’s arguments against French pregnancy warning labels: a press coverage analysis

Abstract Background Alcohol drinking during pregnancy has harmful consequences. Warnings displayed on alcohol bottles are an effective measure to inform people about these risks and have been put in place in France. However, the alcohol industry (AI) resisted this measure when it was introduced in 2007 and during an expansion project in 2018. This study aims to identify arguments used by the AI against warnings targeting pregnant women. Methods A documentary method was used to analyse these arguments disseminated by the AI and its partners (elected representatives of wine-producing regions, etc.) in the French mainstream press (the national, regional and specialised press) from 2000 to 2020 through the Europresse documentary database. A quantitative analysis (number and evolution of press articles, mapping of the actors of AI who expressed themselves) and an inductive thematic content analysis (analytical framework of the arguments identified) using NVivo Software were carried out. Results Among the 85 articles included in this study, a majority of the arguments used by the AI are against this measure. It argues that this measure (1) is a questionable measure because ineffective in changing behaviours, (2) will have counterproductive effects (on women and on the economy); and (3) there are other preferred alternatives than warnings (targeted prevention programs, etc.). A minority is nevertheless in favour of this measure. Among the actors who expressed themselves, a large majority comes from the winegrowing sector. Conclusions The analysis of these arguments will add new insights about AI lobbying against warnings, by analyzing the arguments over a 20 years period covering a failure and a success of industry lobbying. It will also be useful for public health advocacy to better counter this lobbying influence and these arguments, which are not necessarily evidence based. Key messages • Warnings displayed on alcohol bottles are an effective measure which is challenged by the alcohol industry. • Analysing the arguments disseminated by the alcohol industry is useful for public health advocacy in order to counter them.

Alcohol solution strength preference predicts compulsive-like drinking behavior in rats.

Understanding compulsive drinking behavior is key to improving outcomes in the treatment of addiction. In the present study, we investigated compulsive-like drinking in alcohol-addicted rats using the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) model of relapse behavior, which involves repeated deprivation and reintroduction phases; the latter approximate relapse. High-resolution longitudinal drinking and locomotor data were measured while rats (n= 30) underwent a four-bottle (water, 5%, 10%, 20% alcohol v/v) free-choice ADE paradigm. Alcohol bottles were adulterated with the bitter compound quinine during a reintroduction phase to test for compulsive behavior. We characterized how drinking and locomotor behavior during ADE + quinine differed from a regular ADE and how, at the individual level, behavioral parameters extracted from the regular ADE related to compulsive-like drinking. Associations of drinking with locomotor activity were also examined. In the ADE with quinine, we observed reduced consumption of alcohol and a shift to preference for stronger alcohol. Quinine acted by decreasing both the access size and frequency of drinking of 5% alcohol while increasing the frequency of consumption of 20% alcohol. Preference for higher alcohol concentrations prior to the quinine challenge was associated with greater compulsive-like drinking behavior; higher baseline consumption of 20% alcohol correlated with more drinking of quinine-adulterated solutions while high frequency and amount of 5% alcohol consumption at baseline were correlated with being more strongly affected by quinine. Associations between locomotor activity and drinking behavior were observed at the hourly level. These associations reflected changing preferences across experimental phases. Drinking patterns, and specifically solution preference, may offer insights into the presentation of compulsive-like drinking. The findings provide a preclinical basis for observations from epidemiological studies that link higher risk and burden of alcohol-related disease to stronger alcohol concentrations and encourage further translational studies to better understand the underlying mechanisms.

COGNITIVE RESISTANCE TO POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGES IN RUSSIA

The article presents the result of a cognitive-based sociological examination of the initiative to depersonalize the design of alcoholic beverages. Existing studies show that depersonalized bottles reduce the attractiveness of alcohol brands and contribute to focusing attention on warning labels. At the moment, there is a project to introduce a standardized design of alcoholic beverages in Russia, but the presence of favorable conditions in our country for the emergence of cognitive resistance to social influences of this kind remains unexplored. The authors consider the phenomenon of "cognitive resistance" as blocking by individuals of a certain behavior, which is stimulated by a purposeful external influence on them. The article is devoted to testing the hypothesis that in modern Russia there are favorable conditions that stimulate cognitive resistance to not only manipulative, but also positive social influences, such as the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. The results of an empirical study are presented, the purpose of which was to test the hypothesis about the presence of such resistance. The method of a survey experiment of the "split poll" type was used. The field work was carried out from July 27 to August 3, 2015 by the Autonomous Non-profit organization "Center for Expert Market Research" in the form of an Internet survey on a sample of adult residents of Russia recruited from an online panel anketer.org. The experiment used the division of the sample into two randomized groups, each with a volume of 500 people. During the mass survey, the experimental group was offered impersonal designs of alcoholic products, and the control group was offered traditional designs. The analysis of the research results confirms the existence of the phenomenon of cognitive resistance in Russian society on the example of the impersonal design of alcoholic beverages. For the simulated case of alcohol bottles, under certain circumstances, this may even lead to a complete lack of effect from an expensive and complex social impact measure. The detected effect may also indicate a reduced demand for state paternalism in the field of personal choice in Russia

Craving mediates the association between attentional bias to alcohol and in vivo alcoholic beverage consumption in young social drinkers.

Franken's attentional bias hypothesis proposes that attentional bias to alcohol (ABA) activates craving, which motivates alcohol consumption behavior. While this hypothesis was put forward to account for alcohol dependence, the present study tested whether Franken's model may potentially contribute to explaining variation in beer consumption among young social drinkers.ABA was measured by presenting participants with dual videos, one showing alcoholic beverages and the other non-alcoholic beverages, and assessing relative attention to each using a visual probe procedure. Self-reported alcohol craving was assessed four times over the session. In vivo alcoholic beverage consumption was assessed by the remaining weight of alcohol bottle following consumption, measured at conclusion of the experiment.The study revealed that ABA positively predicted alcohol craving (p < .01) and in vivo beer consumption (p < .01). The relationship between ABA and beer consumption was fully mediated by craving (β = .63, 95% CI [.04, 1.29]).To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that the relationship between ABA and in vivo alcoholic beverage consumption is fully mediated by alcohol craving. Future research can extend understanding of the causal relationship between ABA, craving, and consumption, by determining whether direct modification of ABA influences alcohol consumption by altering craving. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

'When I open it, I have to drink it all': Push and pull factors shaping domestic alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic UK Spring 2020 lockdown.

IntroductionThe closure of licensed venues during the COVID‐19 pandemic meant that most alcohol has been consumed at home during lockdown periods in the UK, a phenomenon that remains under‐researched despite the public health implications.MethodsThis article draws on a study consisting of online semi‐structured interviews and focus groups with 20 UK drinkers, conducted between the first and second 2020 UK lockdowns. The study aimed to explore changing and enduring UK drinking practices within home spaces during the pandemic.ResultsOur findings illuminate specific ways in which assemblages and contextual factors may come together to encourage or mitigate against the consumption of any (or excessive) volumes of alcohol at home during the lockdown. For example, the physical presence of alcohol bottles may both encourage consumption (e.g. compulsion to finish an open bottle of wine) and cue reflection on one's drinking (through the potentially confronting presence of empty bottles after domestic drinking). We also highlight the significance of the home as a space separate from—and different to—public drinking spaces.Discussion and ConclusionsWith the increasing normalisation of domestic drinking during a global pandemic, this paper illuminates several factors that may encourage or curtail domestic alcohol consumption and invites us to consider the importance of assemblages, space and context. Such findings have wider applicability; for example, consideration of specific (and perhaps unique) push and pull factors of home spaces could inform future alcohol policy, health promotion messages and how guidance around ‘moderation’ or risky drinking is communicated.

Inventory of macrozoobenthos community in Mangrove Ecosystem, Labombo Beach, Palopo, South Sulawesi

Mangrove ecosystem has ecological roles as habitats for many organism and also minimizing the effects of sea water abration in Labombo shoreline. However, marine tourism area in Labombo beach potentially change that ecological roles. So, it is important to monitore the ecosystem quality for maintaning sustainability of ecosyetem. This study aimed to determine the quality of ecosystems using macrozoobenthos community structure as a bioindicator. The sample was taken from three station using transect and cuadrant methods. The samples then stored in 70% alcohol bottle and indentified based on morphological characteristic in laboratory. 14 spesices of macrozoobenthos were identified in study area. The data showed that Shannon Wiener diversity index (H’) was 2,44; Eveness index was 0,91; and Dominance index was 0,10. Based on Shannon Wiener cathegory, the macrozoobenthos diversity in study area was moderate and indicate that the ecosystem was stable.

Myxedema Coma Disguised as Alcohol Withdrawal

Introduction: Myxedema coma is a medical emergency whose symptoms may sometimes mimic other diseases such as alcohol withdrawal.Case: A 64-year-old male with a history of alcohol abuse and bipolar disorder (on no medications) presented to the emergency department after being found on the floor surrounded by multiple open alcohol bottles. He was a poor historian but reported a previous fall. Vitals on presentation were BP 109/70, HR 110, RR 22, SpO2 of 90% on room air, and rectal temperature of 97.6 F. The remainder of the exam revealed he was alert and oriented to self and place but not time; his neck was supple and no thyroid masses were palpated; he had tremors, head swelling and abdominal tenderness. Labs demonstrated CPK 1300 U/L, Creatinine 1.0 mg/dl, glucose 120 mg/dl, and sodium 142 mmol; urine toxicology was negative and alcohol level was not elevated. He was admitted and treated for suspected alcohol withdrawal and rhabdomyolysis with intravenous fluids and benzodiazepines. However, his mental status continued to decline; he became obtunded and was hypothermic and bradycardic. Thyroid function tests (TFT) revealed TSH 98.9 uIU/mL with free T4 0.27 ng/dl. He was subsequently managed for myxedema coma and given IV levothyroxine and hydrocortisone. He improved clinically after initiation of therapy and was transitioned to oral thyroid replacement. The patient was pending discharge to sub-acute rehab however his hospital course was later complicated by aspiration pneumonia.Discussion: Myxedema coma is a medical emergency as severe hypothyroidism leads to slowed functioning of multiple organs. Risk factors include female gender and age above 60 years; it is seen more commonly in colder months. Symptoms include decreased mental status, feelings of cold and tongue swelling while physical exam may reveal hypothermia, hypoventilation, bradycardia, an enlarged goiter, thinning hair and non-pitting edema. Lab studies usually reveal an elevated TSH with low T4; there may also be hyponatremia and hypoglycemia. Myxedema coma is a clinical and laboratory diagnosis; if there is clinical suspicion for myxedema coma, IV thyroid replacement should be administered promptly without waiting for lab results. Stress-dose steroids should also be administered and TFTs should be monitored every 48 hours. Clinical symptoms usually improve over one week of treatment. Mortality of myxedema coma is reported to be up to 40% in hospitalized patients. Our patient’s presentation of suspected alcohol withdrawal masked his diagnosis of myxedema coma.Conclusion: Physicians should keep myxedema coma in the differential for patients who present with suspected alcohol withdrawal and develop worsening mental status and hypothermia.Reference: DynaMed. (2020, October 22). Myxedema Coma. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www-dynamed-com.arktos.nyit.edu/topics/dmp~AN~T1584563697784.

Incentives and voluntary stopping: The intentional hand task

Intentional inhibition, the endogenous decision to stop or cancel an action, is arguably a more ecologically valid process than automatized, reactive, inhibition which occurs in response to an external stop signal without active decision making at the moment of inhibition. Choosing to stop an act of opening the fridge door, or of reaching for a bottle of alcohol may therefore extend beyond a reactive inhibitory process, e.g. stopping at a red traffic light. Existing paradigms of intentional inhibition focus on the proportions of intentional stops. Here we developed the Intentional Hand Task, which provides stop response times for intentional and instructed trials. Participants move a cursor by initiating an arm movement, after which a Go, Stop or Choice trial occurs. In Go trials, participants are instructed to make a speeded continuation of their arm movement towards a target whereas in the Stop trials participants are instructed to rapidly stop the already initiated movement. In Choice trials, participants chose whether to continue or stop the movement. By comparing response times when movement was stopped, we found that intentionally stopping took significantly longer than externally instructed stopping. We further investigated the influence of reward incentives, by cueing trials with either the prospect of No, Low or High reward for correctly continuing in Go trials, stopping in Stop trials or achieving a random balance of intentional Go and Stops in Choice trials. Reward incentives led to greater approach behaviours, indicated by significantly higher Go accuracy in instructed Go trials and faster response times across both Go trial types. The presence of reward incentives led to significantly fewer intentional stop choices. Our findings suggest intentional inhibition of an ongoing action may require a further decisional process. Furthermore, monetary incentives may implicitly trigger an appetitive system thus facilitating approach rather than intentional inhibitory behaviour. These findings are particularly relevant to cue-related relapse in disorders of addiction where cues may facilitate approach behaviours to the detriment of intentional inhibitory control.

Review: Medical Waste Management for Covid19

Introduction: Medical waste generation during the Covid19 pandemic increased by around 30%. Sources of medical waste generation are health care activities. If medical waste is not appropriately managed, it can pollute the environment and disturb health. The purpose of the review is to identify the potential of medical waste in health-care facilities in Indonesia when the Covid19 pandemic and to review medical waste management in Indonesia. The analysis uses a systematic literature review. Discussion: The potential of medical waste during the Covid19 epidemic is infectious waste (PPE wastes), sharps waste (syringes), chemical waste (expired medicines), and pharmaceutical waste (the used alcohol bottles when rapid tests). The hazardous waste management system refers to Government Regulation No. 101 year 2014 about Management of Hazardous and Toxic Waste and and Regulation of Minister of Environment and Forestry of Republic Indonesia No. P.56/MenlhkSetjen/2015 about Procedures and Technical Requirements for Waste Management Hazardous and Toxic From the Health Service Facilities. Infectious waste, sharps waste, chemical waste, and pharmaceutical waste are destroyed with incinerators. Syringe residues were damaged with a needle shredder. Residue and incineration ashes are processed using solidification. If the heavy metal content under the quality standards, then the waste can be landfill. Conclusion: The potential of medical waste during the Covid19 pandemic is infectious waste, sharps waste, chemical waste, and pharmaceutical waste. Medical waste generated must be appropriately managed. Proper medical waste management can prevent environmental pollution and the spread of disease. One of the processing of potential medical waste is incineration. The incineration system produces residue and ash waste that must further be handled so that it does not pollute the environment and disturb health.

Unequal interactions between alcohol and nicotine co-consumption: suppression and enhancement of concurrent drug intake.

Alcohol and nicotine addiction are prevalent conditions that co-occur. Despite the prevalence of co-use, factors that influence the suppression and enhancement of concurrent alcohol and nicotine intake are largely unknown. Our goals were to assess how nicotine abstinence and availability influenced concurrent alcohol consumption and to determine the impact of quinine adulteration of alcohol on aversion-resistant alcohol consumption and concurrent nicotine consumption. Male and female C57BL/6J mice voluntarily consumed unsweetened alcohol, nicotine, and water in a chronic 3-bottle choice procedure. In experiment 1, nicotine access was removed for 1week and re-introduced the following week, while the alcohol and water bottles remained available at all times. In experiment 2, quinine (100-1000μM) was added to the 20% alcohol bottle, while the nicotine and water bottles remained unaltered. In experiment 1, we found that alcohol consumption and preference were unaffected by the presence or absence of nicotine access in both male and female mice. In experiment 2a, we found that quinine temporarily suppressed alcohol intake and enhanced concurrent nicotine, but not water, preference in both male and female mice. In experiment 2b, chronic quinine suppression of alcohol intake increased nicotine consumption and preference in female mice without affecting water preference, whereas it increased water and nicotine preference in male mice. Quinine suppression of alcohol consumption enhanced the preference for concurrent nicotine preference in male and female mice, suggesting that mice compensate for the quinine adulteration of alcohol by increasing their nicotine preference.

Putaminal Diffusion Restriction in a Case of Methanol Toxicity with Clinical Recovery.

A 32-year-old male presented to the emergency department for confusion, dyspnea, and a "white out" of his central vision over the preceding 24 hours. The patient had recently consumed a bottle of alcohol purchased overseas. Bloodwork revealed a severe metabolic acidosis (pH 6.90) and a critically high methanol level of 28.9mmol/l. Shortly after presentation, the patient went into respiratory failure and became comatose. He was intubated and admitted to the ICU.

Pregnancy warning labels on alcohol packaging: results of an exploratory study

Abstract Background In 2017, approximately 11% of pregnant women in France consumed alcohol despite its harmful consequences on the fetus (Andler, 2018). Our research aims at exploring the impact of warnings displayed on alcohol packaging: the current pictogram and alternative possible messages that differ regarding content and design will be explored. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 French women, including women who did not drink alcohol during their pregnancy, women who drank alcohol, women in pregnancy planning and breastfeeding mothers. Questions were asked about the participants perception of drinking alcohol during pregnancy, alcohol warnings: the current pictogram, new contents (negative and positive) for warnings and new designs (different pictograms combined with or without text). A thematic content analysis was carried out. Results The current pictogram lacks visibility and has no impact on the behaviour of the women. New suggested contents were on the whole welcomed. It can be noted that some participants felt that specific messages (e.g. intellectual disabilities, facial malformations etc.) were a more effective way of preventing alcohol consumption during pregnancy than general ones. On the contrary, other participants felt that a general message such as ’Zero alcohol during pregnancy’, or positive messages such as a cessation service message, was more effective. The majority of participants believed that pictograms with a better visibility; more eye-catching; vivid images of fetuses, etc., would have a greater impact on alcohol consumption. Conclusions This study highlights the need for changes to pictogram currently used on alcohol packaging in France. Our results show that recent changes proposed by the French government (a slight increase in the size of the current pictogram) will most likely have little effect on preventing alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Key messages The current pictogram on alcohol bottles in France has little or no effect. The French government should implement new warnings both in terms of content and design.

Additive influences of acute early life stress and sex on vulnerability for aversion-resistant alcohol drinking.

Acute early life stress (ELS) alters stress system functioning in adulthood and increases susceptibility to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD). The current study assessed the effects of acute, infant ELS on alcohol drinking, including aversion-resistant drinking, in male and female Long Evans rats. Acute ELS was induced using a stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) protocol that consisted of 15 footshocks delivered on postnatal day (PND) 17. Alcohol drinking during adolescence and adulthood was measured with a two-bottle choice intermittent alcohol access paradigm. Aversion-resistant drinking was assessed in adulthood by adding quinine (0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 g/L) to the alcohol bottle after 5 to 6 weeks and 11 to 12 weeks of drinking. ELS had minimal influences on adolescent and adult alcohol consumption and preference. However, ELS, sex, and alcohol exposure history all influenced aversion-resistant alcohol drinking in an additive fashion. Higher concentrations of quinine were tolerated in females, ELS-exposed rats, and after 11 to 12 weeks of drinking. Tests of quinine sensitivity in a separate cohort of animals found that rats can detect concentrations of quinine as low as 0.001 g/L in water and that quinine sensitivity is not influenced by sex or ELS exposure. These results agree with reports of sex differences in aversion-resistant drinking and are the first to demonstrate an influence of ELS on this behavior. Our results also suggest that a single traumatic stress exposure in infancy may be a promising model of comorbid PTSD and AUD and useful in studying the interactions between ELS, sex, and alcohol dependence.

Cue-alcohol associative learning in female rats.

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 home cage (Monday, Wednesday, Friday; 24-h two-bottle choice; 5 weeks) and were subsequently split into two experimental groups: Paired and Unpaired. Groups were matched for ingested doses and alcohol bottle preference across the pre-conditioning home cage period. Both groups were trained in conditioning chambers using a Pavlovian procedure. For the Paired group, the chamber houselight was illuminated to signal access to an alcohol sipper. Houselight onset was yoked for the Unpaired group, but access to the alcohol sipper was scheduled to occur only during the intervening periods (in the absence of light). We found that in the Paired, but not Unpaired group, an alcohol approach reaction was conditioned to houselight illumination, and the level of cue-conditioned reactivity predicted drinking behavior within trials. Groups experienced equivalently low but non-negligible blood alcohol concentrations over the course of conditioning sessions. We conclude that cue-triggered alcohol-seeking behavior in adult female rats reflects associative learning about the relationship between alcohol availability and houselight illumination.

Awareness of the Link between Alcohol Consumption and Cancer across the World: A Review.

Since 1988, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen, the highest level of risk. Growing evidence suggests that alcohol increases the risk of several types of cancer including breast, bowel, prostate, and liver, and accounts for a significant proportion of preventable cancers. Despite ample evidence of this relationship, public awareness is less clear. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we reviewed 32 studies examining lay awareness of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer in 16 countries. Our results show that awareness appears to be low and varies internationally; it is relatively higher in the United Kingdom, Morocco, and Australia. Methodologic differences in assessment obfuscate cross-country and cross-sample comparisons. In general, people are more likely to endorse alcohol as a risk factor when presented with a list of possible risk factors than when asked to list risk factors in an open-ended format. Attempts to increase awareness have been limited and constitute a significant public health need. We provide potential strategies to increase awareness, such as alcohol bottle labeling and fostering patient/physician discussions regarding the link. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(4); 429-37. ©2018 AACR.