Light Drinkers Research Articles

Choice of alcohol over a natural reward: an experimental study in light and heavy social drinkers.

A core symptom of alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a progressively increased choice of alcohol over alternative rewards despite negative consequences. Here, we investigated choice between personalized alcohol vs. natural rewards in a laboratory setting, and compared this behavior between non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers and light social drinkers. 30 light social drinkers (15 men drinking < 15 drinks/week and 15 women drinking < 10 drinks/week) and 30 heavy, non-treatment-seeking drinkers (drinking more than these levels; 15 women). In the Concurrent Choice Alcohol Food (CCAF) task, participants chose between individually tailored images of alcohol and snack rewards and collected points towards the respective reward. To assess cost sensitivity, points associated to the images varied so that they favored alcohol or snack, or were equal, creating three relative point levels. Choice preference for alcohol was strongly correlated with Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) scores, supporting the external validity of the choice procedure. Compared to light drinkers, heavy drinkers showed increased choice preference for alcohol, as indicated by a between-group difference in points of subjective equality, a metric that quantifies the relative point level at which alcohol and snacks were equally likely to be chosen. In both groups, choice preference strongly depended on the relative point level of alcohol compared to snacks, suggesting that responding for alcohol in heavy drinkers was sensitive to costs. Our results replicate previous findings of a relationship between self-reported alcohol use and choice preference for alcohol. We also found that choice behavior was strongly dependent on relative cost of alcohol in both groups, although price sensitivity was lower in heavy compared to light drinkers. An increased choice preference for alcohol in heavy drinkers suggests that they attribute a higher relative reinforcing value to alcohol compared to natural rewards.

Blunted reward-related activation to food scenes distinguishes individuals with alcohol use disorder in a pilot case-control fMRI pilot study.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is thought to bias the neurocircuitry underlying reward processing and motivation to preferentially attend to conditioned alcohol cues over natural rewards. The present case-control pilot study evaluated this hypothesis using novel natural reward paradigms. Twenty-eight participants (AUD, n = 14, light drinkers, n = 14) were recruited-AUD participants reported 44.0% heavy drinking days (%HDD) and 4.67 drinks/day over the preceding 90 days. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired during the administration of three separate picture-viewing paradigms of alcohol cues, food scenes, and social reward, respectively. Independent samples t-tests were performed to compare groups' fMRI data and exploratory correlation analyses were performed to examine associations with clinical characteristics of AUD. Food scenes elicited abnormally low reward-related activation, within the superior frontal gyrus and caudate bilaterally, among AUD participants. Lower activation to food scenes within the superior frontal gyrus was, in turn, associated with higher levels of past-month %HDD among AUD participants, specifically, along with craving and alcohol dependence severity when examined across the full sample. Contrasting reward types (e.g., alcohol cues vs. food scenes) did not reveal "preferential" activation to differentiate groups. Heavy drinking appears associated with reduced responsivity to natural rewards, specifically food rather than social cues. Neural mechanisms underlying the high prevalence of malnutrition among individuals with AUD may involve some combination of blunted approach-related affect and reduced craving-related motivation to eat when food is present, resulting in limited engagement of cortico-striato-thalamic motor circuitry supporting food acquisition. However, given the preliminary nature of this pilot study, such formulations remain tentative until larger follow-up studies can be conducted. From a potential translational standpoint, the ability of promising therapeutics to demonstrate increased responsivity to natural rewards, specifically nutritive reward may serve as a valuable complementary efficacy indicator for future clinical neuroimaging trials in AUD.

Social, behavioral and clinical risk factors are associated with clonal hematopoiesis.

Risk factors including smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity (PA), and sleep patterns have been associated with cancer risk. Clonal hematopoiesis (CH), including mosaic chromosomal alterations (mCAs) and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), is linked to increased hematopoietic cancer risk, and could be used as common pre-clinical intermediates for better understanding associations of risk factors with rare hematologic malignancies. We analyzed cross-sectional data from 478,513 UK Biobank participants without hematologic malignancies using multivariable adjusted analyses to assess the associations between lifestyle factors and CH types. Smoking was reinforced as a potent modifiable risk factor for multiple CH types, with dose-dependent relationships persisting post-cessation. Males in socially deprived areas of England had lower risk of mosaic loss of chromosome Y (mLOY), females with moderate/high alcohol consumption (2-3 drinks/day) had increased mLOX risk (OR=1.17, 95%CI:[1.09-1.25], p=8.31×10-6) compared to light drinkers, active males (moderate-high PA) had elevated risks of mLOY (PA Category 3: OR=1.06, 95%CI:[1.03-1.08], p=7.57×10-6) and men with high BMI (≥40) had reduced risk of mLOY (OR=0.57, 95%CI:[0.51-0.65], p=3.30×10-20). Sensitivity analyses with BMI adjustment attenuated the effect in the mLOY-PA associations (IPAQ2: OR=1.03, 95%CI:[1.00-1.06], p=2.13×10-2 and IPAQ3: OR=1.03, 95%CI:[1.01-1.06], p=7.77×10-3). Our study reveals associations between social deprivation, smoking, alcohol consumption, and CH risk, suggesting these exposures could contribute to common types of CH and potentially rare hematologic cancers. This study underscores the impact of lifestyle factors on CH frequency, emphasizing social, behavioral, and clinical influences and the importance of socio-behavioral contexts when investigating CH risk factors.

Social decision making in binge drinking: An exploration through moral dilemmas.

The continuum hypothesis proposes that binge drinking and severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD) share qualitatively similar cognitive and emotional impairments. In SAUD, these deficits have a demonstrated impact on social decision making, resulting in a utilitarian bias. Namely, when confronted with moral dilemmas, patients with SAUD tend to focus on the consequences of their actions rather than on social norms. However, social decision-making abilities remain unexplored in binge drinking. We offered the first insights on the generalization of the continuum hypothesis to social decision making, through a multinomial processing tree model applied to moral dilemmas, the "CNI model" of moral decision making. We compared 35 binge drinkers (20 females) and 36 light drinkers (21 females) on a battery of 48 moral dilemmas involving interpersonal relations from the CNI model, through multinomial modeling analyses. In each dilemma, participants were asked if they would perform the described action, generating individual scores for sensitivity to consequences, sensitivity to norms, and inaction tendency. The statistical model related to the CNI approach fits the data well. Binge drinkers and controls did not differ regarding their sensitivity to consequences nor their sensitivity to moral norms, and both groups displayed an equal inaction tendency in response to moral dilemmas. We provided insights to better understand the specific (socio)cognitive domains impaired in subclinical populations with alcohol use disorder. We showed preserved social decision making in binge drinking, which suggests that the continuum hypothesis documented for classical neurocognitive functions does not extend to complex social abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The association between alcohol consumption and herpes simplex virus type 2: A cross-sectional study from national health and nutrition examination survey 2009-2016.

The current prevalence of Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection is notably high, with individuals afflicted by HSV-2 facing recurrent outbreaks, challenges in achieving remission, and an elevated risk of HIV infection. This study aims to investigate the relationship between alcohol consumption and HSV-2 infection. The data for this study were sourced from 7257 participants who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2009 to 2016. The target population consisted of adults with reliable HSV-2 plasma results, and alcohol consumption was assessed using self-report methods. We evaluated the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between alcohol consumption and HSV-2 infection. These estimations were derived from a logistic regression model that was adjusted for key confounding factors. Subgroup analysis specifically focused on alcohol consumption, and the interaction between HSV-2 infection, alcohol consumption, and other variables was assessed through stratified analysis. Among the 7,257 participants included, 89.8% (6,518/7,257) reported varying levels of alcohol consumption history. Compared to individuals who never drinkers, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for former drinkers, light drinkers, moderate drinkers, and heavy drinkers were 1.79 (95% CI: 1.34-2.4, p < 0.001), 1.38 (95% CI: 1.07-1.77, p = 0.012), 1.49 (95% CI: 1.15-1.94, p = 0.003), and 1.47 (95% CI: 1.14-1.9, p = 0.003), respectively. The results remained stable in subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses. Current research indicates that individuals with a history of alcohol consumption exhibit a higher risk of HSV-2 infection compared to those who have never drinkers.

Alcohol drinking modified the effect of plasma YKL-40 levels on stroke-specific mortality of acute ischemic stroke

ObjectivesOur study aimed to evaluate the association between plasma human cartilage glycoprotein-39 (YKL-40) and stroke-specific mortality at two years in acute ischemic stroke patients according to the drinking status and amount of alcohol consumption. We further investigated the effect of the interaction between these conditions and YKL-40 levels on the outcome. MethodsWe measured plasma YKL-40 levels in 3267 participants from the China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke. Outcome data on stroke-specific mortality were collected at two years after stroke onset. ResultsDuring the two years of follow-up, 208 (6.4 %) patients, including 44 drinkers and 164 nondrinkers, died of stroke-specific causes. The patients in the highest quartile of YKL-40 had a 3.52-fold (95 % CI: 1.15–10.76, P for trend = 0.006) risk of stroke-specific mortality compared with those in the lowest quartile among drinkers. However, no significant association between YKL-40 and the outcome was observed among nondrinkers (HR: 1.18, 95 % CI: 0.75–1.86, P for trend = 0.08). Alcohol drinking modified the effect of YKL-40 on the outcome (P for interaction = 0.04). Subgroup analyses revealed that each 1-unit increase in log-transformed YKL-40 was associated with a 72 % greater risk of stroke-specific mortality for light drinkers. This association was amplified with a 226 % increased risk of the outcome among heavy drinkers. ConclusionsElevated YKL-40 levels were associated with an increased risk of stroke-specific mortality at two years among drinkers with ischemic stroke. Drinking status substantially modified the effect of plasma YKL-40 levels on the outcome. This effect was amplified with the increased amount of alcohol consumption.Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT01840072.

Negotiating situational abstinence and moderation: a study of regular and heavy-drinking young Nigerians.

Studies that have examined young people's drinking behaviour, particularly how they abstain from alcohol or drink lightly and their motivations, have focused on Western contexts. Currently, studies on how andwhy young Africans abstain from alcohol or drink moderately are lacking. Therefore, there is a need to examine young people's drinking behaviours/practices on the continent to facilitate health promotion interventions. This study, which uses qualitative data elicited from 53 participants, explores how young Nigerian men and women who consume alcohol and drink heavily enact and negotiate abstinence and moderate drinking and the factors that motivate their choices. Some participants constructed situational abstinence, while others participated in temporary light drinking in their friendship networks, but these attracted some consequences. Peers pressured them, but some deployed the ability to offer 'valid' explanations and express self-determination and agency to ward off such pressures and negotiate situational abstinence or moderate drinking. Additionally, the fear of public embarrassment, negative publicity on social media due to intoxication and parental influences motivated some participants' occasional sobriety. Others relied on previous personal or friends' negative experiences of drunkenness or the consequences of heavy drinking represented in movies and books to construct occasional light drinking. The findings demonstrated how enacting and rejecting particular forms of masculinity and embodied gendered drinking practices, more generally, in some friendship groups, facilitated situational abstinence and moderation. Policymakers should partner with young people to design interventions that encourage abstinence or moderation and mitigate the current drinking practices in Nigeria, which will enhance health promotion.

Dose-Response Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption and Gout Risk: Do Subtypes of Alcoholic Beverages Make a Difference?

Although previous studies have explored the association of drinking with gout risk, we sought to explore the dose-response relationship and the evidence between subtypes of alcoholic beverages and gout risk. The weekly alcoholic beverage consumption of patients in the UK Biobank was collected and calculated. The Cox regression model was applied to assess the effects of drinking alcohol in general and its subtypes on gout risk by calculating the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% CIs. Additionally, the restricted cubic splines were used to estimate the dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and gout risk. To evaluate the robustness, we performed subgroup analysis across various demographic characteristics. During a mean follow-up period of 11.7 years, a total of 5728 new incident gout cases were diagnosed among 331,865 participants. We found that light alcohol consumption was linked to a slight decrease in gout incidence among female individuals (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.65-0.94, P = 0.01), whereas there was no significant association in male individuals. Moreover, the dose-response relationship showed that drinking light red wine and fortified wine could reduce the gout risk, whereas beer or cider, champagne or white wine, and spirits increased the gout risk at any dose. Our study suggested a J-shaped dose-response relationship between drinking and gout risk in female individuals, but not in male individuals. For specific alcoholic beverages, light consumption of red wine and fortified wine was associated with reduced gout risk. These findings offer new insights into the roles of alcoholic beverages in gout incidence risk, although further validation is warranted.

The extrastriate symmetry response is robust to alcohol intoxication.

Visual symmetry activates a network of regions in the extrastriate cortex and generates an event-related potential (ERP) called the sustained posterior negativity (SPN). Previous work has found that the SPN is robust to experimental manipulations of task, spatial attention, and memory load. In the current study, we investigated whether the SPN is also robust to alcohol-induced changes in mental state. A pilot experiment (N = 13) found that alcohol unexpectedly increased SPN amplitude. We followed this unexpected result with two new experiments on separate groups, using an alcohol challenge paradigm. One group completed an Oddball discrimination task (N = 26). Another group completed a Regularity discrimination task (N = 26). In both groups, participants consumed a medium dose of alcohol (0.65 g/kg body weight) and a placebo drink, in separate sessions. Alcohol reduced SPN amplitude in the Oddball task (contrary to the pilot results) but had no effect on SPN amplitude in the Regularity task. In contrast, the N1 wave was consistently dampened by alcohol in all experiments. Exploratory analysis indicated that the inconsistent effect of alcohol on SPN amplitude may be partly explained by individual differences in alcohol use. Alcohol reduced the SPN in light drinkers and increased it in heavier drinkers. Despite remaining questions, the results highlight the automaticity of symmetry processing. Symmetry still produces a large SPN response, even when participants are intoxicated, and even when symmetry is not task relevant.

Interactive effects of alcohol and cannabis quantities in the prediction of same-day negative consequences among young adults.

Simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use is common, but observational studies examining negative consequences of simultaneous use have rarely considered dose-related interactions between alcohol and cannabis. This study examined interactions between quantities of cannabis and alcohol consumed in predicting negative consequences on simultaneous use days. Young adults (N = 151; 64% female; 62% White) reporting recent simultaneous use and at least weekly alcohol and cannabis use completed 21 daily, smartphone-based surveys assessing previous day quantities of cannabis and alcohol used, types of cannabis used (flower, concentrates, edibles), and negative substance-related consequences. Multilevel models examined: (1) whether negative consequences differed within-person across simultaneous use days and single-substance use days; and (2) whether quantities of alcohol and cannabis consumed on simultaneous use days interacted, within-person, to predict negative consequences. We focused on quantities of cannabis flower (grams) in primary analyses and explored quantities of other forms of cannabis (concentrates, edibles) in supplementary analyses. Participants reported fewer negative consequences on alcohol-only (243 observations) and cannabis-only (713 observations) days than they did on simultaneous use days (429 observations). On simultaneous use days involving cannabis flower use (313 observations across 81 participants), the within-person association between number of standard drinks and negative consequences was weaker on days during which larger (vs. smaller) amounts of cannabis flower were consumed. Inspection of simple slopes revealed that decreased alcohol use was associated with less of a decline in negative consequences when combined with relatively greater amounts of cannabis flower. Although simultaneous use was associated with more negative consequences than alcohol-only and cannabis-only use, negative consequences on simultaneous use days varied as a function of the interaction between alcohol and cannabis quantities. As findings suggest that using larger amounts of cannabis may attenuate declines in negative consequences associated with lighter drinking, interventions for higher-risk simultaneous use patterns may benefit from a focus on quantities of both alcohol and cannabis.

Abstract P147: Alcohol Consumption and Its Relation to Ectopic Adiposity in African Caribbean Men

Introduction: Alcohol intake and ectopic fat are associated with cardiometabolic diseases. While previous studies primarily focused on visceral and/or liver fat, few studies to date have investigated the associations of alcohol intake with skeletal muscle fat infiltration, a fat depot which might contribute to the increased risk of diabetes and hypertension in African ancestry populations. Methods: Alcohol intake (drinks/day) was assessed using a 146-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire in the Tobago Health Study (N=800). Ectopic fat was measured in the abdomen and thigh in a subset of this cohort (N=706, mean age=63.94 (8.66) years, mean BMI=27.72 (4.65) kg/m 2 ) using computed tomography. Men were divided into current drinkers/not current drinkers, and the current drinkers were further subdivided into types of alcohol consumed (wine, beer/stout, or liquor). Results: A majority of men (56.1%) were not current drinkers. Of drinking men, 76.1% were light drinkers (&lt;1 drink/day), 17.4% were moderate drinkers (1-3 drinks/day), and 6.5% were heavy drinkers (&gt;3 drinks/day). Men who did not drink were slightly older (65.1 vs 62.5, p&lt;0.001), with less visceral adiposity (91.4 vs. 101.9 cm 3 , p=0.002) and less psoas muscle fat (0.59 vs 0.64 cm 3 , p=0.017) than men who drank, independent of age. In fully adjusted models, drinking liquor was positively associated with BMI, waist circumference, visceral and subcutaneous adiposity, while drinking beer was positively associated with thigh muscle fat (Table). Conclusion: Alcohol intake was associated with greater ectopic fat accumulation in all studied compartments, except in the liver, in this cohort of African Caribbean men, who mostly had low alcohol consumption. We also report a novel finding that observed relationships differ by type of alcohol. † Adjusted for total energy intake, age, walking (hours/week), TV watching (≥14 hours/week), current smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and statin use status. * Additional adjustment for BMIHU = Houndsfield Units

Exploring Attentional Bias toward Alcohol Content: Insights from Eye-Movement Activity

Introduction: Attentional bias (AB) is an implicit selective attention toward processing disorder-significant information while neglecting other environmental cues. Considerable empirical evidence highlights the clinical implication of AB in the onset and maintenance of substance use disorder. An innovative method to explore direct measures of AB relies on the eye-movement activity using technologies like eye-tracking (ET). Despite the growing interest regarding the clinical relevance of AB in the spectrum of alcohol consumption, more research is needed to fully determine the AB patterns and its transfer from experimental to clinical applications. The current study consisted of three consecutive experiments. The first experiment aimed to design an ad-hoc visual attention task (VAT) consisting of alcohol-related and neutral images using a nonclinical sample (n = 15). The objective of the second and third experiments was to analyze whether the effect of type of image (alcohol-related vs. neutral images) on AB toward alcohol content using the VAT developed in the first experiment was different for type of drinker (light vs. heavy drinker in the second experiment [n = 30], and occasional social drinkers versus alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients in the third experiment [n = 48]). Methods: Areas of interest (AOIs) within each type of image (neutral and alcohol-related) were designed and raw ET-based data were subsequently extracted through specific software analyses. For experiment 1, attention maps were created and processed for each image. For experiments 2 and 3, data on ET variables were gathered and subsequently analyzed through a two-way ANOVA with the aim of examining the effects of the type of image and drinker on eye-movement activity. Results: There was a statistically significant interaction effect between type of image and type of drinker (light vs. heavy drinker in experiment 2, F(1, 56) = 13.578, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.195, and occasional social drinker versus AUD patients in the experiment 3, F(1, 92) = 35.806, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.280) for “first fixation” with large effect sizes, but not for “number of fixations” and “dwell time.” The simple main effect of type of image on mean “first fixation” score for AUD patients was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The data derived from the experiments indicated the importance of AB in sub-clinical populations: heavy drinkers displayed an implicit preference for alcohol-related images compared to light drinkers. Nevertheless, AB fluctuations in patients with AUD compared to the control group were found. AUD patients displayed an early interest in alcohol images, followed by an avoidance attentional processing of alcohol-related images. The results are discussed in light of recent literature in the field.

Evaluating the influence of nonproblematic alcohol intake on the outcome of major depression.

The effect of light or moderate alcohol intake on the outcome of patients with major depression taking antidepressants is a question that remains unanswered. The main objective of this study was to assess the association between light or moderate alcohol consumption and the acute response (efficacy and tolerability) to pharmacological treatment in unipolar major depression. Efficacy and tolerability analyses compared 8-week outcomes between three subgroups, abstainers, light drinkers and moderate drinkers, of patients with major depression using a prospective naturalistic single-blind design. The treatment strategy was adapted from a local clinical guideline. Antidepressants prescribed were escitalopram, venlafaxine extended-release and imipramine; benzodiazepines and antipsychotics could be prescribed as needed. The final sample consisted of 614 severe unipolar major depressive inpatients and outpatients aged 18 years or older. Notably, no significant differences in efficacy or tolerability (including all subscores assessed) were found between the abstainer and nonproblematic drinker subgroups. Without ever forgetting the serious implicit risks associated with the inappropriate use of alcohol, in conclusion, our results suggest that nonproblematic alcohol consumption does not influence the outcome of patients diagnosed with an acute severe major depressive episode.

An experimental investigation into the effect of negative affect on the behavioral economic demand for alcohol.

Influential theoretical models hypothesize that alcohol use is an especially potent reinforcer when used as a strategy to cope with negative affect. Although the evidence for this idea in observational data is weak, some experimental evidence suggests that the behavioral economic demand for alcohol increases immediately following a negative emotional event. Because existing studies testing the effect of negative mood inductions on the demand for alcohol have several methodological limitations and do not take inter- and intraindividual variability into account, we developed an improved experimental design to increase our confidence in any potential within-person effect of negative mood inductions on alcohol demand as well as to test whether this effect exhibits systematic inter- and intraindividual variability. We hypothesize that people will show a higher demand for alcohol following negative compared to neutral mood inductions and that this effect is stronger in heavy compared to light drinkers as well as stronger on days characterized by higher coping motives and negative urgency. Three hundred twenty college students will complete the alcohol purchase task (APT) after being subjected to 100 mood inductions (six negative, six neutral) on 20 separate days. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Association of Alcohol Consumption with Impaired Beta-Cell Function Independent of Body Mass Index Among Indian Men

Heavy alcohol consumption is linked to the development of type 2 diabetes. Alcohol's effects on the function of cells are not completely known at this time. This investigation looked into the relationships that exist between all of these different characteristics. All of the males who participated in this study were of Indian descent, and their ages ranged anywhere from 25 to 80 years old. Participants were categorized as abstainers, teetotalers, light drinkers (drinking between 0.1 and 20 grams of alcohol per day), moderate drinkers (consuming between 21.0 and 40 grams of alcohol per day), or heavy drinkers (consuming more than 41 grams of alcohol per day). Light drinkers consumed between 0.1 and 20 grams of alcohol per day. Moderate drinkers consumed between 21.0 and 40 kilos of alcohol per day. Heavy drinkers used more than 41 grams of alcohol per day. After that, the participants were separated into two groups: those with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 kilograms per square meter and those with a BMI of 25 kilograms per square meter or more. A number of parameters, such as age, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, lipids, and serum uric acid levels, were taken into consideration. In comparison to individuals who refrained from alcohol use, those who drank alcohol had a lower HOMA- score, and this was the case independent of their body mass index. In the group with a BMI of less than 25 \(kg/m^{2}\), both past and current alcohol use were substantially connected with HOMA-IR. However, this association was not seen in the group with a BMI of more than 25 \(kg/m^{2}\). According to the results of multiple research, drinking alcohol is associated with -cell dysfunction in boys of Indian heritage, independent of the BMI of the participants in the studies.

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND DECREASED SERUM Α-KLOTHO, AN ANTI-AGING HORMONE, LEVELS AMONG US ADULT PARTICIPANTS

Abstract Background The Klotho protein is widely accepted to be a prominent anti-aging biomarker for health and longevity. The relationship between alcohol intake and serum levels of soluble ɑ-Klotho is not well understood. Methods In this study, we explored this relationship in a nationally representative sample of US adults. A total of 3970 male and female adults aged 40-79 years from the 2013-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys were analyzed using multiple general linear models. Participants were classified as non-drinkers, light drinkers (consumed on average &amp;lt; 4 drinks in males and &amp;lt; 3 drinks in females per day), and heavy drinkers (consumed on average ≥4 drinks in males and ≥3 drinks in females per day), according to a national guideline. Results Significantly decreased serum ɑ-Klotho levels were found in both light drinkers and heavy drinkers, with the weighted geometric mean of 785.18 pg/mL (p = 0.0007) in light drinkers and 750.96 pg/mL (p = &amp;lt;.0001) in heavy drinkers, compared to that in non-drinkers (827.19 pg/mL). After adjusting for covariates, light drinking was associated with a 3.66% (p = 0.0081) decrease in serum ɑ-Klotho levels, and heavy drinking with an 8.07% decrease (p = &amp;lt;.0001) in ɑ-Klotho levels, as compared with non-alcohol drinking. Similarly, binge drinking was also associated in a 5.22% (p = &amp;lt;.0001) decrease in serum ɑ-Klotho, compared to non-binge drinking. Conclusion This study demonstrates a significantly inverse relationship between alcohol consumption and serum ɑ-Klotho levels in middle-aged and older adults. Prospective studies are warranted to elucidate these interactions.

Comparison of Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase and Serum Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase Enzyme Levels between Light and Heavy Drinkers in Renon Village, Denpasar City

Arak is a non-electrolyte liquid that easily circulates in the blood circulation and is absorbed in the digestive tract. One disease that can be caused by alcohol consumption is liver function disorders, such as alcoholic hepatitis. So it can increase the serum enzymes glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) and serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT). This research was conducted on light and heavy drinkers in Renon Village, Denpasar City. This research uses a longitudinal quantitative design. The results obtained were that the average SGPT level of light drinkers was 46.21 ± 0.155 IU/L, while the respondents who were heavy drinkers had SGPT levels with an average of 64.02 ± 0.430 IU/L. for SGOT from light drinkers is 50.20 ± 0.101 IU/L. Respondents who drank heavily had SGPT levels with an average of 74.40 ± 0.048 IU/L. All wine drinkers, both light drinkers and heavy drinkers, had SGPT-SGOT levels that exceeded the reference value.

Cancer Risk According to Alcohol Consumption Trajectories: A Population-based Cohort Study of 2.8 Million Korean Men.

Alcohol drinking behaviors change temporally and can lead to changes in related cancer risks; previous studies have been unable to identify the association between the two using a single-measurement approach. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association of drinking trajectories with the cancer risk in Korean men. A trajectory analysis using group-based trajectory modeling was performed on 2,839,332 men using data on alcohol drinking levels collected thrice during the Korean National Health Insurance Service's general health screening program conducted between 2002 and 2007. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to evaluate the associations between drinking trajectories and cancer incidence, after adjustments for age, income, body mass index, smoking status, physical activity, family history of cancer, and comorbidities. During 10.5 years of follow-up, 189,617 cancer cases were recorded. Six trajectories were determined: non-drinking, light, moderate, decreasing-heavy, increasing-heavy, and steady-heavy. Light-to-heavy alcohol consumption increased the risk for all cancers combined in a dose-dependent manner (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.05 for light drinking, aHR 1.06; 95% CI 1.05-1.08 for moderate drinking, aHR 1.19; 95% CI, 1.16-1.22 for decreasing-heavy drinking, aHR 1.23; 95% CI, 1.20-1.26 for increasing-heavy drinking, and aHR 1.33; 95% CI, 1.29-1.38 for steady-heavy drinking [P-trend <0.001]). Light-to-heavy alcohol consumption was linked to lip, oral cavity, pharyngeal, esophageal, colorectal, laryngeal, stomach, and gallbladder and biliary tract cancer risks, while heavy alcohol consumption was associated with hepatic, pancreatic, and lung cancer risks. An inverse association was observed for thyroid cancer. The cancer risks were lower for decreasing-heavy drinkers, compared to steady-heavy drinkers. No safe drinking limits were identified for cancer risks; reduction in heavy intake had protective effects.

Chemogenetic inhibition of locus coeruleus to rostromedial tegmental nucleus noradrenergic pathway increases light cycle ethanol drinking in male and female mice and blunts ethanol-induced CTA

We recently showed that chemogenetic activation of the locus coeruleus (LC) to the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) noradrenergic (NE) pathway significantly blunted binge-like ethanol drinking and induced aversive-like behaviors in mice. The aim of the present study is to determine if silencing this TH + LC → RMTg noradrenergic pathway promotes increased levels of binge-like ethanol intake and reduced ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversion (CTA). To this end, both male and female TH-ires-cre mice on a C57BL/6 J background were cannulated in the RMTg and injected in the LC with rAVV viruses that encode cre-dependent Gi-expressing designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs), or its control, to directly control the activity of NE neurons. Inhibition of the LC to RMTg pathway had no effect on the binge-ethanol drinking in a “drinking-in-the-dark” (DID) paradigm. However, when using this paradigm during the light cycle, silencing of this circuit significantly increased ethanol intake without altering sucrose drinking. Moreover, we found that inhibition of this circuit significantly attenuated an ethanol-induced CTA. In addition, when compared to control animals, pairing RMTg-directed Clozapine N-oxide (CNO) with an i.p. injection of 1.5 g/kg ethanol reduced c-Fos activation in the LC, and increased c-Fos expression in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in Gi-expressing mice. Our data show that inhibition of the TH + LC to the RMTg pathway significantly increased ethanol drinking as well as attenuated ethanol-induced CTA, supporting the involvement of the LC to RMTg noradrenergic circuit as an important protective mechanism against excessive ethanol consumption.

A pilot study of the acceptability, efficacy, and iatrogenic effects of a brief dynamic norms intervention for reducing young adult alcohol use.

Alcohol use and its related consequences are a public health problem among young adults. Building upon efficacious personalized normative feedback interventions, dynamic norms can be used to highlight the decreasing prevalence of alcohol use over time among young adults' peers, thereby increasing their motivation to change drinking consistent with the trend. Because limited research has examined dynamic norms feedback interventions for alcohol use, we examined the acceptability and initial efficacy of such an intervention, and potential iatrogenic effects of showing norms feedback about drinking to light drinkers and nondrinkers. Participants were 546 unvaccinated young adults ages 18-24 who completed a baseline survey, intervention, and 1-month follow-up assessment. Participants were block randomized to receive a brief web-based dynamic norms intervention, with feedback content focused on either (a) alcohol-related behaviors (intervention) or (b) COVID-19 vaccine behaviors (the attention-matched control for the present study). On average, participants who received the alcohol intervention rated it as generally engaging, helpful, and acceptable, with the majority (90.8%) indicating that they would recommend it to a friend. Supporting initial efficacy, in generalized linear models controlling for demographics and baseline alcohol outcomes, at 1-month follow-up the alcohol intervention was associated with statistically and clinically significant reductions in all indices of perceived drinking norms, drinking quantity, drinking frequency, and driving after drinking occasions. Lighter drinkers showed no adverse iatrogenic effects. Presenting alcohol-related personalized normative feedback using dynamic trends is a promising intervention for reducing alcohol use in a community sample of young adults. Further research clarifying the optimal presentation of dynamic norms is needed.