Shannon Lange, Huan Jiang, Laura Miščikienė, Alexander Tran, Mindaugas Štelemėkas, Jürgen Rehm
{"title":"The impact of COVID-19-related national lockdowns on alcohol-related traffic collisions, injuries, and fatalities in Lithuania.","authors":"Shannon Lange, Huan Jiang, Laura Miščikienė, Alexander Tran, Mindaugas Štelemėkas, Jürgen Rehm","doi":"10.1111/acer.15429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.15429","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The national lockdowns that occurred all over the world in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been found to have impacted alcohol use. The aim was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19-related national lockdowns on alcohol-related traffic collisions, injuries, and fatalities in Lithuania.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using monthly data from the Lithuanian Road Police Service for January 2004 to December 2022, we performed interrupted time-series analyses using a generalized additive model to evaluate the impact of COVID-19-related national lockdowns on alcohol-related traffic collisions, injuries, and fatalities. In Lithuania, the COVID-19-related lockdowns occurred from March 2020 to June 2020 and from November 2020 to June 2021.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Although overall rates for traffic collisions and injuries decreased during the COVID-19-related lockdowns in Lithuania, these lockdowns were associated with a 3.21% (95% CI: 1.19%, 5.23%) increase in the relative proportion of alcohol-related traffic collisions and a 2.46% (95% CI: 0.12%, 4.80%) increase in the relative proportion of alcohol-related traffic injuries. The association between the lockdowns and alcohol-related traffic fatalities was not statistically significant.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The COVID-19-related national lockdowns in Lithuania were associated with a decrease in the overall rate of traffic collisions and injuries, but an increase in the relative proportion of alcohol-related traffic collisions and injuries.</p>","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142047637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marie A Doyle, Gregory J Salimando, Megan E Altemus, Justin K Badt, Michelle N Bedenbaugh, Alexander S Vardy, Danielle N Adank, Anika S Park, Danny G Winder
{"title":"BNST GluN2D-containing NMDARs contribute to ethanol intake but not negative affective behaviors in female mice.","authors":"Marie A Doyle, Gregory J Salimando, Megan E Altemus, Justin K Badt, Michelle N Bedenbaugh, Alexander S Vardy, Danielle N Adank, Anika S Park, Danny G Winder","doi":"10.1111/acer.15432","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acer.15432","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic, relapsing disease, highly comorbid with anxiety and depression. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and Crh+ neurons in this region play a key role in chronic ethanol-induced increases in volitional intake, hypothesized to be driven by emergent negative affective behaviors. Excitatory N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are a major target of ethanol, and chronic ethanol exposure has been shown to regulate NMDAR function and expression. Specifically, GluN2D subunit-containing NMDARs have emerged as a target of interest due to their limited distribution and potential roles in affective behavior.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Male and female mice underwent a home cage chronic drinking forced abstinence model (CDFA) to assess the impact of 1 day or 2 weeks of ethanol abstinence on BNST synaptic transmission and BNST Grin gene expression. Constitutive and conditional BNST GluN2D knockout mice were used to assess the impact of GluN2D deletion on continuous access ethanol intake as well as negative affect behaviors, using the open field, elevated zero maze, and forced swim tasks.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We report here that excitatory transmission undergoes time-dependent upregulation in BNST Crh+ cells. Further, knockdown of dorsal BNST (dBNST) GluN2D expression significantly decreases ethanol intake in female, but not male, mice. While BNST Grin2b expression was significantly increased in protracted abstinence following CDFA, no differences in Grin2d expression were observed in the dBNST or dBNST Crh+ neurons. Finally, we find that deletion of GluN2D fails to alter negative affect in ethanol-naïve female mice.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These data suggest a role for BNST GluN2D-containing NMDARs in ethanol drinking but not ethanol abstinence, highlighting sex differences and behavioral specificity. Overall, these data further suggest roles for BNST synaptic signaling in volitional ethanol intake that are partially independent of actions on affective behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142047636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nehal P. Vadhan, Hayley Treloar Padovano, Frederick J. Muench, Svetlana Levak, Nicholas Allen
{"title":"Self-reported alcohol consumption during participation in a text messaging-based online drinking moderation platform","authors":"Nehal P. Vadhan, Hayley Treloar Padovano, Frederick J. Muench, Svetlana Levak, Nicholas Allen","doi":"10.1111/acer.15414","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acer.15414","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Background</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Many individuals with excessive alcohol consumption desire moderation but do not seek formalized treatment. Commercially available, technology-assisted options are flexible and highly accessible, yet often not empirically validated.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Individuals desiring alcohol moderation (age 21+) self-selected to use Sunnyside®, a web application with tailored and adaptive text messaging. The evaluable dataset included 46,411 members who completed a baseline assessment, enrolled in the program, and tracked their drinking at least once. An adaptive and customizable weekly plan was generated from typical drinking patterns, goals, and weekly reported progress. Personalized daily messages included reminders for real-time drink tracking, plans, and available interactive messaging with peer coaches. Generalized mixed-effect growth models characterized change in drinks per week and daily drinking for 12 weeks after enrollment. Models allowed for nonlinear change and individual variability across members and weeks.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>A majority (64.3%) of members reported typically drinking 7 of 7 days per week at baseline. During tracking, drinks per week decreased most in the initial weeks and slowed thereafter, with an overall 33% reduction in weekly drink counts. More severe alcohol-use patterns and concern over drinking at baseline were associated with greater relative benefit.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Drinking patterns appeared amenable to change during 12 weeks of daily drink tracking with Sunnyside®, a tailored web program to reduce drinking and improve overall wellness. Overall, the findings of this naturalistic study, one of the first of its kind, supplement data from randomized clinical trials and support the use of adaptive, technology-assisted tools for alcohol moderation.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acer.15414","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142037880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rudolph Schutte, Jufen Zhang, Mahreen Kiran, Graham Ball
{"title":"Alcohol and arterial stiffness in middle-aged and older adults: Cross-sectional evidence from the UK Biobank study.","authors":"Rudolph Schutte, Jufen Zhang, Mahreen Kiran, Graham Ball","doi":"10.1111/acer.15426","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.15426","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The association between arterial stiffness and alcohol consumption is still controversial. We investigated this relationship by performing continuous analysis in men drinking only beer/cider, and women drinking only red wine.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional study involved participants aged 40-69 years consisting of 9029 men who drank only beer/cider, and 6989 women drinking only red wine. Alcohol consumption was captured by self-reported questionnaire and reported as units per week, where one unit is equal 10 mL pure ethanol. Arterial stiffness index (ASI) was estimated using photoplethysmography.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In men consuming a mean 17.8 (5th and 95th percentiles, 2.6-76.7) units/week, ASI increased by heptiles (sevenths) of alcohol captured from beer/cider consumption and after adjusting for age (9.14, 9.40, 9.51, 9.53, 9.80, 9.80, 10.00 m/s; p-trend < 0.001) and after full adjustment (9.29, 9.46. 9.55, 9.55, 9.73, 9.73, 9.75 m/s; p-trend = 0.013). Similarly, in women consuming a mean 8.1 (1.6-29.3) units/week, ASI increased by heptiles of alcohol captured from red wine consumption and after adjusting for age (8.05, 8.05, 8.05, 8.11, 8.17, 8.30, 8.45 m/s; p-trend = 0.012) and borderline significant after full adjustment (8.05, 8.07, 8.05, 8.07, 8.11, 8.22, 8.43 m/s; p-trend = 0.055). These associations were confirmed in multivariable-adjusted regression analysis in all men, men younger and older than 50 years, and when consuming more than 14 units per week. Similarly, these associations were confirmed in all women, women older than 50 years, and in those consuming more than 14 units per week.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Positive linear relationships exist between arterial stiffness and alcohol, irrespective of whether captured from beer/cider consumption in men or red wine consumption in women. No evidence existed to support the notion that our arteries benefit from any level of alcohol consumption.</p>","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142010028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Warren K. Bickel, Katie Witkiewitz, Liqa N. Athamneh, Alena Kuhlemeier
{"title":"Recovery from alcohol use disorder: Reinforcer pathology theory, measurement, and methods","authors":"Warren K. Bickel, Katie Witkiewitz, Liqa N. Athamneh, Alena Kuhlemeier","doi":"10.1111/acer.15406","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acer.15406","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a dynamic process that often entails periods of drinking but has been defined primarily by abstinence. Recently, a broader interpretation of recovery was developed, including meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) remission criteria and improved psychosocial functioning. This new understanding of recovery has facilitated the development of novel theories and methodologies. This paper reviews a new theoretical perspective of recovery, Reinforcer Pathology, and two novel methodological approaches in light of this broader view of recovery. Using this theoretical framework as a foundation, we propose an alternative perspective to explain the recovery process as it relates to environmental factors and valuation of the future; we suggest that changing the environment in which substances are available (e.g., increasing non-alcohol-related activities) and extending one's temporal window are associated with improved recovery outcomes (e.g., remission and quality of life). In this review, we discuss two novel methodological approaches. The first uses latent profile analysis to show that using a measure of Relative Reinforcement Value of Alcohol-Free Activities is associated with a greater likelihood of belonging to a high functioning/infrequent heavy drinking recovery profile. The second developed an online national sample and used an accelerated longitudinal design to study longer-term recovery of up to 12 years over a 5-year study period. Reinforcer Pathology theory, novel methods, and measures may further our understanding of recovery and begin to address critical questions for future studies. Subsequent randomized clinical trials should examine whether the suggested targets and interventions based on the theoretical model improve recovery outcomes prospectively. Measuring and promoting alcohol-free activity engagement may facilitate improved recovery outcomes, while novel methodologies permit an understanding of returning to use or remission across different recovery durations.</p>","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142001466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Margareeta Häkkinen, Anne Arponen, Antti Jylhä, Kati Sulin, Teemu Gunnar
{"title":"Phosphatidylethanol is a promising tool for screening alcohol consumption during pregnancy.","authors":"Margareeta Häkkinen, Anne Arponen, Antti Jylhä, Kati Sulin, Teemu Gunnar","doi":"10.1111/acer.15418","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.15418","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is one of the leading causes of preventable developmental disabilities. A lack of objective screening methods results in an under-recognition of the phenomenon. Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is a specific ethanol biomarker that reveals alcohol intake up to several weeks after alcohol use. So far, PEth has mostly been a tool for detecting moderate and heavy drinking. With lower PEth cut-offs, revealing even minor prenatal alcohol consumption is possible. We aimed to find out if a sensitive method for PEth analysis would give additional information about PAE and to assess the cut-off value for a positive alcohol result in prenatal screening.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study was an observational study of 3000 anonymous blood samples collected from the Helsinki University Hospital Diagnostic Center between June and September 2023. The Finnish Red Cross Blood Service received the samples originally for blood group typing and antibody screening as part of the prenatal blood screening program. We developed a sensitive PEth 16:0/18:1 analysis method using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) equipment after liquid-liquid extraction of PEth from whole blood. The lower limit of quantification was 1 ng/mL.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>PEth was ≥2 ng/mL in 5.2% of the cases, ≥8 ng/mL in 2.0%, and ≥20 ng/mL in 1.0%. The detection time of PEth can be several weeks, especially with low PEth concentrations and after heavy alcohol consumption. It remained unknown whether the positive PEth tests resulted from drinking deliberately during pregnancy or before pregnancy recognition.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We suggest adding PEth 16:0/18:1 to a routine prenatal blood screening program with a cut-off of 2 ng/mL-and in positive cases, clinical evaluation and retesting in 2-4 weeks. In clinical settings, information on gestational week and alcohol consumption before pregnancy is relevant and needs to be considered when interpreting low PEth concentrations.</p>","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141989652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marisa Roberto, Michal Bajo, Paul Schweitzer, Scott D. Moore, Christopher S. Oleata, Samuel Madamba, Martin A. Javors, Barbara J. Mason, George F. Koob
{"title":"George Robert Siggins: Researcher, musician, surfer, mentor, and friend","authors":"Marisa Roberto, Michal Bajo, Paul Schweitzer, Scott D. Moore, Christopher S. Oleata, Samuel Madamba, Martin A. Javors, Barbara J. Mason, George F. Koob","doi":"10.1111/acer.15423","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acer.15423","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141989651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Thromboxane A2 blockade attenuates ethanol-induced myocardial inflammation: Sipping from the same bottle.","authors":"Thomas E Sharp, Thanh Trung Van","doi":"10.1111/acer.15421","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.15421","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141977396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Assessing and supporting children and young people with probable or diagnosed fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: The experience of clinicians working within child and adolescent mental health services","authors":"Yasmin Tanfield, Kathy Burrows, Megan Middlemiss","doi":"10.1111/acer.15376","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acer.15376","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Background</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a group of conditions that occur due to prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), which impacts physical, behavioral, and cognitive ability. The literature demonstrates that healthcare professionals lack knowledge and understanding of FASD, resulting in children and young people (CYP) often getting misdiagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders or the diagnosis of FASD missed, increasing their risk of experiencing secondary mental health difficulties. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are the commissioned service to diagnose neurodevelopmental conditions and support CYP with mental health difficulties, therefore, it is likely that CYP with probable or diagnosed FASD will present in CAMHS. There is currently no research exploring the awareness and understanding of FASD within these services.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Constructivist grounded theory was utilized to explore the barriers and facilitators clinicians experience when assessing and supporting CYP with probable or diagnosed FASD within CAMHS. A sample of 12 CAMHS clinicians from an NHS Mental Health Trust situated in the Northeast of England were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed and grounded theory techniques were utilized to generate an end model.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The end model was developed on a box analogy with four categories. ‘Unable to Open the Box’ captures barriers CAMHS clinicians experience when exploring FASD, ‘Things that Help Open the Box’ captures facilitators CAMHS clinicians experience when exploring FASD, ‘Asking Others About the Box’ captures systemic influences CAMHS clinicians may experience when exploring FASD, and ‘Making the Box Easier to Open in Future’ captures how we can support CAMHS clinicians moving forward to explore FASD.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This model provides new insights into the barriers and facilitators CAMHS clinicians experience when assessing and supporting CYP with probable or diagnosed FASD, highlighting key clinical implications. Recommendations for future research are outlined to expand the knowledge base for this area.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/acer.15376","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141977395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Update on ACER","authors":"Michael F. Miles","doi":"10.1111/acer.15420","DOIUrl":"10.1111/acer.15420","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141918220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}