Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs最新文献

Background: Prolonged alcohol consumption is associated with immune system alterations, high blood pressure, and neurotoxicity. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a devastating disease worldwide that leads to several changes in the neurochemical balance within the brain. Moreover, the high incidence of certain cancers and the prevalence of infectious diseases among individuals with alcohol use disorder demonstrate how alcohol impairs immune system. Our research brings a new viewpoint to the understanding of the critical pathways and genes involved in the dynamic alterations of AUD progression.

Methods: In summary, the methods utilized in this research include microarray data collection from GEO database, functional enrichment analysis of gene sets, weighted gene co-expression network analysis to find regulated modules, and analysis of modules and identification of hub genes.

Results: The findings showed that the expression of a wide range of genes is affected by alcohol and will lead to significant changes in the regulation of biological processes and signaling pathways related to the cell cycle and cellular senescence. Some of the significantly impacted pathways are polyubiquitination, NF-κB pathway, FOXO, mTOR, P53, calcium and PPAR signaling pathways.

Conclusion: It is likely that the expression of genes associated with cellular senescence is altered by alcohol and its related disorders.

Objective: The opioid crisis remains a critical public health concern, with non-medical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO) playing a significant role. However, limited evidence exists on how adults engaging in NMUPO for subjective effects differ from those who use them for other non-medical reasons. This study aims to identify and examine factors associated with engagement in NMUPO for subjective effects.

Method: Data from the 2020 to 2024 CAMH Monitor study, a repeated cross-sectional survey of adults aged 18 and older (N=7,655). The surveys used a Qualtrics-based web survey to assess NMUPO, sociodemographic factors, substance use and mental health. Data were analyzed using multivariate multinomial logistic regression.

Results: About 3% of adults engaged in NMUPO for subjective effects/to get high, and 15% of participants engaged in NMUPO for other non-medical purposes during 2020 and 2024. These percentages remained stable over the years. The risk of NMUPO for subjective effects, compared to NMUPO for other purposes, was significantly higher among Asian people, compared to their white counterparts (Relative Risk Ratio, RRR=1.80, 95%CI: 1.08-3.01), and those with children, (RRR=2.53, 95%CI: 1.64-3.92). Similarly, individuals with low household income, current other substance use, and psychological distress exhibited a higher risk of NMUPO, after adjusting for covariates.

Conclusions: Individuals who use prescription opioids non-medically for subjective effects or other reasons differ by race/ethnicity, parental status, income, substance use, and level of psychological distress. These findings suggest the need for targeted prevention and intervention strategies to address the unique needs and behaviors of different user groups.

Objective: Reduction in alcohol craving has often been specified as an outcome for alcohol use disorder (AUD) interventions. This study evaluated changes in multiple craving measures from a randomized double-blind clinical trial (RCT) evaluating the efficacy of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, for treatment of AUD. We predicted Veterans in AUD residential treatment, that received active iTBS (Active; n=22), show greater reductions than sham iTBS (Sham; n=22).

Method: Twenty iTBS sessions (1200 pulses/session) were delivered over 2 weeks. Craving measures were administered prior to iTBS sessions (Baseline) and following completion of sessions (Post-Assessment). Craving measures administered were the Alcohol Craving Questionnaire Short Form-Revised Total Score, Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale (AASE) Tempted Cravings and Urges subscale, and Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS).

Results: All craving measures showed reductions in scores (time main effect), collapsed across Active and Sham groups; however, the absence of significant group x time interactions indicated active iTBS did not produce statistically greater reductions than sham. Exploratory post-hoc simple effects analyses were conducted to further examine the significant main effect of time; Active participants showed reductions on the AASE Tempted Cravings-Urges and all OCDS measures; Sham group showed no significant changes on any measure.

Conclusions: Active iTBS did not produce a statistically greater reduction in craving symptomatology than sham, given the absence of significant group by time interactions. However, the exploratory post-hoc results can guide future larger scale transcranial magnetic stimulation RCTs for AUD on the utility of the acquired craving measures.

Objective: Theories posit that acute alcohol responses predict development of future heavy alcohol use and alcohol related problems. The most prominent of these theories is the low-level response theory that purports less intense alcohol responses are associated with later development of alcohol use disorder. The counter modified differentiator model posits greater stimulant effects with lower sedative effects predict future heavy drinking. The present study provided a concurrent testing of these theories in a large-scale cohort of young adult Swiss men.

Methods: Data were derived from two waves of the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors in 2749 French-speaking, current alcohol consuming young adult men aged 25.7 years at baseline and 28.5 years at follow-up. Participants completed the 6-item Anticipated Brief Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale with the instructions of the anticipated effects they feel after consuming five standard drinks and the stimulation and sedation subscales were used in analyses. Associations of these scores with volume of drinking and frequency of heavy episodic drinking were determined both at baseline and at 3-year follow-up. Models were adjusted for covariates including disinhibited personality and family history of alcohol problems.

Results: Results show that anticipated stimulation effects of alcohol predicted increasing alcohol consumption over time and anticipated sedative alcohol effects predicted reductions in consumption (p-values ≤ .001).

Conclusions: The present study supported the modified differentiator model in that higher anticipated stimulation and lower sedation predicted future alcohol consumption patterns. This may be useful to prevent heavy drinking and inform pharmacological interventions intended to reduce pleasurable effects.

Objective: The California (US) Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) Training Act mandated training for all alcohol servers by 2023 giving us a rare opportunity to see how a statewide initiative might influence server behavior.

Method: In 2022, 300 licensed on-premises establishments were sampled in nine counties rep-resenting the San Francisco Bay Area. From July 2022 to January 2023, "pseudopatron" (PP) and observer teams visited each establishment, and PPs attempted to buy alcohol while displaying obvious signs of intoxication. The outcome of each purchase attempt and characteristics of establishments, servers, PPs, and month, day, and time were recorded. In 2024, the same premises were visited as a follow up.

Results: At baseline, 19.6% of the outlets refused service to the PP. At follow up, the refusal rate increased significantly to 39.2%in a regression model controlling for establishment, server and PP characteristics (OR= 4.51, p<.01). A typology of outlets (e.g., sports bar; casual restaurant; fine dining) did not show any association with refusal rate except that fine dining (upscale) places refused more often than other types of establishments. Observer rating of how obvious the PP's apparent intoxication was strongly associated with refusals (OR = 11.64, p<.01).

Conclusions: This study suggests that there was substantial improvement in alcohol over-service refusals two years after the mandatory RBS training law went into effect.

Objective: Using peer-driven sampling of young adult social networks, this study examined whether elevated drinking risks among individual participants ("egos") were associated with behavioral economic (BE) indicators among adjacent peers in their recruitment chain ("alters"). We hypothesized that having adjacent alters with BE values indicative of greater drinking risk would elevate individual ego drinking risks and that ego BE-drinking risk associations would depend on ego-alter correspondence levels of BE indicators.

Method: Community-dwelling young adults engaged in risky drinking (N = 269; M_age = 23.14 years, 68% female) were recruited via respondent-driven sampling, a peer-to-peer referral method. Generalized linear modeling examined whether ego-alter correspondence (degree of similarity between egos and alters on a given BE index) was associated with ego drinking practices and negative alcohol-related consequences. Analyses also examined whether ego-alter correspondence moderated ego BE-drinking risk associations.

Results: Interactions partially supported the hypotheses. Higher ego elasticity was associated with lower drinking risks, and these associations were weaker when alters' demand was less elastic (ps < .06). Higher ego discretionary spending on alcohol was associated with more negative consequences, and this association was stronger when alters' spending on alcohol was higher (p < .01).

Conclusions: With respect to elasticity and discretionary alcohol spending, harmful alter BE indicators moderated ego BE-drinking risk associations. Therefore, individuals affected by social harms may need social network interventions linking them to lower-risk drinking peers. Results highlight the usefulness of socially contextualizing BE indices.

Objective: The term fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) refers to a variety of negative consequences that may develop in children born to women who have consumed alcohol during pregnancy. Anxiety disorders are common in FASD. Animals exposed to alcohol exhibit anxiety-like traits. Erythropoietin (EPO) is produced by the kidneys and liver. The synthesis of EPO by immature neurons also plays a crucial role in the embryonic stage. In addition, EPO inhibits astrogliosis and cell death while increasing the number of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-positive cells, which is linked to reductions in anxiety-like behavior and neuronal damage. This study investigated the protective effects of EPO on ethanol-induced neurotoxicity in the hippocampus of rat pups.

Method: The intubation of the total daily dose of ethanol (5/27 g/kg/day) was started from Postnatal Day 2 (PD2) to PD10 (corresponding to the third trimester of pregnancy in humans). After intubation, 1,000 and 2,000 U/kg EPO were injected subcutaneously. The elevated plus maze was performed 39 days after the birth of the pups to determine the levels of anxiety. Immunohistochemical staining was then performed to determine GFAP and BDNF levels 40 days after birth. Nissl staining was done to measure necrotic cell death.

Results: EPO administration significantly improved the anxious behavior associated with FASD (p < .001). EPO significantly increased BDNF levels (p < .001), decreased glial fibrillary acidic protein expression (p < .001), and attenuated alcohol neurotoxicity-induced necrotic cell death (p < .001).

Conclusions: EPO treatment provides protection against ethanol neurotoxicity, which consequently leads to lower anxiety levels.

Objective: Media alcohol exposure is a modifiable environmental risk factor for adolescent drinking behavior. Shifts in teen media use have made social media engagement nearly ubiquitous among this population. TikTok, a short video-sharing social media platform, is the fastest-growing platform among teens. A total of 98% of the most viewed videos tagged "#alcohol" on TikTok portray alcohol positively. TikTok also offers a search function that provides algorithmically identified "Top Videos," for which alcohol-related content has yet to be characterized. Alcohol-naive and curious youth may be more susceptible to encountering content this way.

Method: A Python script using a newly created account was used to download the 100 "Top Videos" for five alcohol-related search terms: #alcohol, #beer, #wine, #vodka, #tequila. Videos were qualitatively coded for context, setting, and positive/negative sentiment of alcohol depiction. Twenty percent of videos were double coded, with a total percent agreement of 95.8% (Cohen's kappa = .81).

Results: For terms related to specific alcohol types (e.g., #beer), videos were overwhelmingly alcohol positive (96.9%), rarely depicted alcohol problems, and frequently were humorous and depicted alcohol recipes and games. For the "#alcohol" search term, nearly half of videos (41.8%) were identified as being alcohol negative and more often depicted alcohol problems and dependence.

Conclusions: In contrast with the most viewed videos on TikTok for "#alcohol," videos returned via the search function included significantly more alcohol-negative content. Content returned by all other search terms remained alcohol positive. Understanding content delivery algorithms may be beneficial for mitigating the risk of alcohol exposure on digital/social media platforms.

Objective: The internalizing (e.g., depression/anxiety) pathway to substance use is a prominent hypothesis, but its evidence has been critiqued for neglecting correlated dimensions of mental health such as externalizing (e.g., aggressive, rule-breaking) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems. Furthermore, most research has been conducted in predominantly White samples, limiting generalizability. We examine associations between substance use and psychopathology symptoms across intersectional race/ethnicity and gender identities.

Method: Participants (N = 1,187; 16.26% Black women, 17.61% Latina women, 15.67% White women, 16.68% Black men, 17.10% Latino men, and 16.68% White men) ages 18-26 completed online surveys. Alcohol and cannabis factors were indicated by six pattern-of-use items (e.g., frequency/quantity) and psychopathology symptoms via the Adult Self-Report. Differential item functioning was tested before making comparisons in univariate and multivariate models.

Results: Differential item functioning was detected; the degree of bias was modeled via partial metric invariance, allowing for latent inferences. At the univariate level, externalizing symptoms predicted alcohol and cannabis across all groups except Black and Latino men, whereas internalizing and attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms predicted cannabis use in White women and White men only. In a multivariate model, internalizing symptoms inversely predicted alcohol use for White women and White men, externalizing symptoms predicted alcohol use in all groups except Latino men, and externalizing symptoms predicted cannabis use in all groups except Black women and Latino men. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity showed no significant associations in the multivariate model.

Conclusions: The conceptualized structure of mental health has implications for research on substance use. Intersectionality-minded methods may provide a more generalizable scientific base.

Objective: We investigated offspring alcohol use outcomes as a function of unremitted and remitted parental alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Method: Self-report data of participants in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) were used. Offspring (n = 2,244, mean age 16.3 years at baseline, 26.9 years at follow-up, 50.8% female) were linked to parental data. Time-varying associations of parental AUD and remission with offspring age at first drink, years from first drink to AUD onset, and years from AUD onset to first remission were tested in Cox models adjusted for polygenic risk for problematic alcohol use (PGS_PAU). Analyses were stratified by genetically inferred continental groups of European Americans (EA; 65.9%) and African Americans (AA; 34.1%) because of sociocultural factors that can contribute to differences in alcohol use and problems.

Results: In EA, maternal remission was associated with increased risk for offspring AUD; neither maternal nor paternal remission was associated with other outcomes. In AA, maternal and paternal remission were associated with an increased likelihood of early drinking; the association with maternal drinking varied as a function of whom offspring lived with during adolescence. Paternal, but not maternal, remission was associated with a heightened risk for AUD onset. Parental status had no association with offspring remission in EA or AA.

Conclusions: Evidence that parental remission can help mitigate the risk associated with parental AUD and increase the likelihood of remission in affected offspring was limited and mixed based on continental group and sex. These nuanced outcomes highlight the complex interplay of parental AUD status and offspring's alcohol-related behaviors.