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1.
Effects of Mixing Energy Drinks With Alcohol on Driving-Related Skills.
Pérez-Mañá, C, Mateus, JA, Díaz-Pellicer, P, Díaz-Baggerman, A, Pérez, M, Pujadas, M, Fonseca, F, Papaseit, E, Pujol, J, Langohr, K, et al
The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology. 2022;(1):13-25
Abstract
BACKGROUND Energy drinks (EDs) reduce sleepiness and fatigue and improve driving performance whereas alcohol does just the opposite. Although it is a trendy combination among young people, the effects of alcohol mixed with EDs on driving performance have been poorly studied. The aim was to assess if there is an interaction between the effects of both drinks on driving-related skills as well as perceptions about driving ability. METHODS We conducted a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled 4-way crossover clinical trial. Participants were 16 healthy volunteers. Interventions of 60 g of ethanol and 750 mL of Red Bull (RB) were administered in 2 separated doses. Conditions were alcohol + RB placebo, alcohol + RB, alcohol placebo + RB, and both placebos. Objective performance was assessed using a tracking test and simple reaction time, N-Back, and movement estimation tasks. Additionally, willingness to drive, other subjective effects, and ethanol and caffeine blood concentrations were also measured. RESULTS Alcohol increased the time outside the road in the tracking test and increased simple reaction time, but the addition of RB had no main or interaction effects on performance. Nonetheless, driving-related skills after alcohol + RB were better than after alcohol alone. Willingness to drive increased with the combination of drinks. RB also reduced alcohol-induced sedation whereas drunkenness did not change. These effects were seen even though alcohol + RB increased alcohol (14.8%) and caffeine plasma concentrations (17.6%). CONCLUSIONS Mixing EDs with alcohol predisposes consumers to drive under alcohol influence, perhaps in part because EDs counteract its detrimental effects on driving-related skills. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02771587.
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2.
Effects of Acute Alcohol Consumption on Food Intake and Pictorial Stroop Response to High-Calorie Food Cues.
Adams, S, Wijk, E
Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire). 2021;(3):275-283
Abstract
AIMS: We examined (a) the effect of an acute dose of alcohol on the consumption of energy-dense food and (b) on cognitive bias towards high-energy-dense food cues and (3) whether the effect of an acute dose of alcohol on the consumption of energy-dense food would be mediated by cognitive bias towards high-energy-dense food cues. METHODS Heavy social drinkers (n = 40) abstained from drinking for 12 hours before testing. On the test day, participants completed pre-challenge measures of alcohol and food craving, and cognitive bias towards alcohol in a placebo-controlled, double-blind design. Participants performed post-challenge measures of alcohol and food craving, ad lib energy-dense food consumption and cognitive bias. RESULTS We did not observe any of the hypothesized interactions between challenge condition, consumption of energy-dense food and cognitive bias towards high-energy-dense food cues. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that acute alcohol consumption does not influence the consumption of energy-dense food or cognitive bias towards high-energy-dense food cues. These findings may reflect that alcohol does not increase the appetitive value of food and food-related cues or that the measures used in this study were not sensitive to detect an effect. Further research is required to determine whether alcohol at higher doses and/or food cues that are frequently paired with alcohol intake stimulates changes in food intake and the reward value of food cues.
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3.
Dose-Response Relationships between Levels of Alcohol Use and Risks of Mortality or Disease, for All People, by Age, Sex, and Specific Risk Factors.
Rehm, J, Rovira, P, Llamosas-Falcón, L, Shield, KD
Nutrients. 2021;(8)
Abstract
Alcohol use has been causally linked to more than 200 disease and injury conditions, as defined by three-digit ICD-10 codes. The understanding of how alcohol use is related to these conditions is essential to public health and policy research. Accordingly, this study presents a narrative review of different dose-response relationships for alcohol use. Relative-risk (RR) functions were obtained from various comparative risk assessments. Two main dimensions of alcohol consumption are used to assess disease and injury risk: (1) volume of consumption, and (2) patterns of drinking, operationalized via frequency of heavy drinking occasions. Lifetime abstention was used as the reference group. Most dose-response relationships between alcohol and outcomes are monotonic, but for diabetes type 2 and ischemic diseases, there are indications of a curvilinear relationship, where light to moderate drinking is associated with lower risk compared with not drinking (i.e., RR < 1). In general, women experience a greater increase in RR per gram of alcohol consumed than men. The RR per gram of alcohol consumed was lower for people of older ages. RRs indicated that alcohol use may interact synergistically with other risk factors, in particular with socioeconomic status and other behavioural risk factors, such as smoking, obesity, or physical inactivity. The literature on the impact of genetic constitution on dose-response curves is underdeveloped, but certain genetic variants are linked to an increased RR per gram of alcohol consumed for some diseases. When developing alcohol policy measures, including low-risk drinking guidelines, dose-response relationships must be taken into consideration.
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4.
Alcohol and Cancer: Epidemiology and Biological Mechanisms.
Rumgay, H, Murphy, N, Ferrari, P, Soerjomataram, I
Nutrients. 2021;(9)
Abstract
Approximately 4% of cancers worldwide are caused by alcohol consumption. Drinking alcohol increases the risk of several cancer types, including cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, liver, colorectum, and breast. In this review, we summarise the epidemiological evidence on alcohol and cancer risk and the mechanistic evidence of alcohol-mediated carcinogenesis. There are several mechanistic pathways by which the consumption of alcohol, as ethanol, is known to cause cancer, though some are still not fully understood. Ethanol's metabolite acetaldehyde can cause DNA damage and block DNA synthesis and repair, whilst both ethanol and acetaldehyde can disrupt DNA methylation. Ethanol can also induce inflammation and oxidative stress leading to lipid peroxidation and further DNA damage. One-carbon metabolism and folate levels are also impaired by ethanol. Other known mechanisms are discussed. Further understanding of the carcinogenic properties of alcohol and its metabolites will inform future research, but there is already a need for comprehensive alcohol control and cancer prevention strategies to reduce the burden of cancer attributable to alcohol.
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5.
Beyond Lockdown: The Potential Side Effects of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Public Health.
Paltrinieri, S, Bressi, B, Costi, S, Mazzini, E, Cavuto, S, Ottone, M, De Panfilis, L, Fugazzaro, S, Rondini, E, Giorgi Rossi, P
Nutrients. 2021;(5)
Abstract
Lockdowns to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 have disrupted routines and behaviors, which could lead to a worsening of lifestyle and an increase in the burden of non-communicable diseases. This study aimed to describe the changes in physical activity, diet, alcohol drinking, and cigarette smoking during lockdown. A self-administered online survey addressing adults living in a province in northern Italy was advertised through websites and social media. Citizens could access the survey in anonymity from 4 May until 15 June 2020. A total of 1826 adults completed the survey, with a worsening of physical activity (35.1%), diet (17.6%), alcohol drinking (12.5%), and cigarette smoking (7.7%) reported. In contrast, 33.5% reported an improvement in diet, 12.6% in alcohol drinking, 5.3% in physical activity and 4.1% in cigarette smoking. Female sex, young adult age, suspension of work activity, and symptoms of psychological distress were the factors associated with a greater likelihood of change, which was frequently for the worse. Lockdown had an impact on lifestyle, with some net beneficial effects on diet and mostly negative effects on physical activity. Public health measures should be implemented to avoid long-term negative effects of the lockdown, supporting individuals more prone to change for the worse.
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6.
Alcohol Drinking, Apolipoprotein Polymorphisms and the Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases.
Ceci, FM, Ceccanti, M, Petrella, C, Vitali, M, Messina, MP, Chaldakov, GN, Greco, A, Ralli, M, Lucarelli, M, Angeloni, A, et al
Current neurovascular research. 2021;(1):150-161
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Abstract
Lipoprotein disorders are a major risk factor for atherosclerotic neuro-cardiovascular disease (ACVD) and are heavily influenced by lifestyle, including alcohol drinking. Moderate drinkers have a lower ACVD risk than abstainers due to their higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, an important protective factor against ACVD. On the contrary, heavy drinking increases ACVD risk. According to an extensive literature body, ethanol intoxication modifies lipid serum profile and induces endothelial dysfunction. Single nucleotide polymorphisms may influence the relationship between alcohol drinking, HDL cholesterol level, and atherosclerotic risk. The risk of ACVD in heavy drinkers seems enhanced in patients with apolipoprotein E4 allele, interleukin- 6-174 polymorphism, and cholesteryl ester transfer protein TaqIB polymorphism. Apolipoprotein E4 is a known risk factor for ACVD, while apolipoprotein E2 has mixed effects. Therefore, even if a "protective role" may be attributed to moderate drinking, this effect cannot be extended to everyone.
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The dosing procedure that "makes the poison": Comparing the effects of single versus cumulative alcohol administration methods on emotion recognition.
Nagar, M, Weller, A, Rabinovitz, S
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England). 2021;(11):1411-1419
Abstract
BACKGROUND Most people often consume alcohol cumulatively and gradually. Yet almost scientific knowledge about alcohol's acute effects on cognition, behavior, and affect stems from laboratory studies that employ a single beverage administration procedure. OBJECTIVE This study tests the hypothesis that alcohol's acute effects depend on both methods of administration and alcohol blood level. We introduce a new laboratory procedure for studying cumulative alcohol drinking and examine alcohol's effects on emotion recognition as a function of both alcohol administration method and alcohol blood level. METHODS Participants were recruited for one of two studies. One study employed a between-subject design using a single alcoholic dose. Participants were randomly assigned to drink either placebo (0.00%), low (0.03%), moderate (0.06%), or high (0.09%) alcohol levels. The second study employed a within-subject design using a cumulative alcoholic administration method, in which each participant drank four drinks (placebo, followed by three alcoholic drinks). Both groups reached similar breath alcohol concentrations. In both studies, participants attended a single study session, in which emotion recognition was examined following alcohol administration. RESULTS Single alcoholic beverage administration method caused greater impairment in emotion recognition ability, specifically for anger, happiness, and fear, as compared with cumulative administration method, even though breath alcohol levels were similar in both conditions. CONCLUSIONS This paper presents questions concerning the internal validity of previous laboratory studies that use a single beverage administration procedure. Insights into the effects of alcohol on behavior, as well as regarding our knowledge about models of addiction are presented.
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The effect of moderate wine consumption on cytokine secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells: A randomized clinical study in coronary heart disease patients.
Fragopoulou, E, Argyrou, C, Detopoulou, M, Tsitsou, S, Seremeti, S, Yannakoulia, M, Antonopoulou, S, Kolovou, G, Kalogeropoulos, P
Cytokine. 2021;:155629
Abstract
Many studies conclude that wine consumption is related to lower risk for cardiovascular diseases partially through the amelioration of inflammatory biomarkers. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of wine consumption on the inflammatory response and to compare these effects with the consumption of similar amount of alcohol without the wine micro-constituents in cardiovascular disease patients. Therefore, a randomized, single-blind, controlled, three-arm parallel intervention study was designed. Cardiovascular disease patients were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. In Group A participants consumed no alcohol, in Group B (ethanol group) and Group C (wine group) participants consumed 27 g of alcohol per day. Biological samples were collected at the beginning, on the 4th and 8th week and several biomarkers were measured. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells that were isolated from patients were incubated under basal and inflammatory conditions for 4 and 24 h and the secretion of interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) was measured. No significant difference was observed among the three groups before the initiation or during the intervention in the most soluble biomarkers. Higher TNFα secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells was observed at basal conditions in the ethanol group both at 4 and 24 h of incubation versus baseline secretion. Furthermore, lower secretion of the ΤNFα was observed after 8 weeks of intake in the wine group versus the ethanol group, both at 4 and 24 h of incubation. In conclusion, the light to moderate wine consumption for 8 weeks revealed an attenuation of the ethanol consumption effect on cytokine secretion at basal conditions from the patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
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Muscle Glycogen Utilization during Exercise after Ingestion of Alcohol.
Smith, HA, Hengist, A, Bonson, DJ, Walhin, JP, Jones, R, Tsintzas, K, Afman, GH, Gonzalez, JT, Betts, JA
Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 2021;(1):211-217
Abstract
PURPOSE Ingested ethanol (EtOH) is metabolized gastrically and hepatically, which may influence resting and exercise metabolism. Previous exercise studies have provided EtOH intravenously rather than orally, altering the metabolic effects of EtOH. No studies to date have investigated the effects of EtOH ingestion on systemic and peripheral (e.g., skeletal muscle) exercise metabolism. METHODS Eight men (mean ± SD; age = 24 ± 5 yr, body mass = 76.7 ± 5.6 kg, height = 1.80 ± 0.04 m, V˙O2peak = 4.1 ± 0.2 L·min) performed two bouts of fasted cycling exercise at 55% V˙O2peak for 2 h, with (EtOH) and without (control) prior ingestion of EtOH 1 h and immediately before exercise (total dose = 0.1 g·kg lean body mass·h; 30.2 ± 1.1 g 40% ABV Vodka; fed in two equal boluses) in a randomized order, separated by 7-10 d. RESULTS Muscle glycogen use during exercise was not different between conditions (mean [normalized 95% confidence interval]; EtOH, 229 [156-302] mmol·kg dm, vs control, 258 [185-331] mmol·kg dm; P = 0.67). Mean plasma glucose concentrations during exercise were similar (control, 5.26 [5.22-5.30], vs EtOH, 5.34 [5.30-5.38]; P = 0.06). EtOH ingestion resulted in similar plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations compared with rest (control, 0.43 [0.31-0.55] mmol·L, vs EtOH, 0.30 [0.21-0.40] mmol·L) and during exercise. Plasma lactate concentration was higher during the first 30 min of rest after EtOH consumption (mean concentration; control, 0.83 [0.77-0.90] mmol·L, vs EtOH, 1.00 [0.93-1.07] mmol·L), but the response during exercise was similar between conditions. CONCLUSIONS Muscle glycogen utilization was similar during exercise with or without prior EtOH ingestion, reflected in similar total whole-body carbohydrate oxidation rates observed.
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10.
Alcohol Consumption in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Path through the Immune System.
Azizov, V, Zaiss, MM
Nutrients. 2021;(4)
Abstract
Benefits and harms of different components of human diet have been known for hundreds of years. Alcohol is one the highest consumed, abused, and addictive substances worldwide. Consequences of alcohol abuse are increased risks for diseases of the cardiovascular system, liver, and nervous system, as well as reduced immune system function. Paradoxically, alcohol has also been a consistent protective factor against the development of autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Here, we focused on summarizing current findings on the effects of alcohol, as well as of its metabolites, acetaldehyde and acetate, on the immune system and RA. Heavy or moderate alcohol consumption can affect intestinal barrier integrity, as well as the microbiome, possibly contributing to RA. Additionally, systemic increase in acetate negatively affects humoral immune response, diminishing TFH cell as well as professional antigen-presenting cell (APC) function. Hence, alcohol consumption has profound effects on the efficacy of vaccinations, but also elicits protection against autoimmune diseases. The mechanism of alcohol's negative effects on the immune system is multivariate. Future studies addressing alcohol and its metabolite acetate's effect on individual components of the immune system remains crucial for our understanding and development of novel therapeutic pathways.