Association of serum zinc with markers of liver injury in very heavy drinking alcohol-dependent patients

Zinc deficiency is a frequent complication of alcohol abuse for multiple reasons including poor intake, increased excretion, internal redistribution and altered transporters. Zinc deficiency has been postulated to play a role in the development/progression of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). This study aimed to relate serum zinc levels with alcohol intake, serum albumin concentration and markers of inflammation and liver injury. One hundred and eight male and female very heavy drinking (≥10 drinks/day) individuals without clinical evidence of ALD were grouped by serum zinc concentration: normal-zinc group (zinc level≥71 μg/dl) included 67 patients, and low-zinc group (zinc level<71 μg/dl) included 41 patients. Data were collected on demographics, drinking history in last 90 days (heavy drinking days, HDD90 and total drinks, TD90), lifetime drinking history (LTDH) and clinical/ laboratory assessments. Our data show that in a very well-characterized, chronically heavy-drinking population without clinical evidence of liver disease, about 40% of subjects had low serum zinc levels. Frequency of heavy drinking days (HDD90) was significantly higher in the low-zinc group. Total drinks in past 90 days, LTDH and HDD90 showed significant associations with low zinc levels. The group with the low serum zinc had a higher aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio (good marker of alcoholic liver disease). Those in the low-zinc group had the lower albumin levels, a marker of hepatic synthetic function, and the highest C-reactive protein level, a biomarker of inflammation.     

Assessment of lexical semantic judgment abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects: An fMRI study

Neuropsychological studies have shown that alcohol dependence is associated with neurocognitive deficits in tasks requiring memory, perceptual motor skills, abstraction and problem solving, whereas language skills are relatively spared in alcoholics despite structural abnormalities in the language-related brain regions. To investigate the preserved mechanisms of language processing in alcohol-dependents, functional brain imaging was undertaken in healthy controls (n=18) and alcohol-dependents (n=16) while completing a lexical semantic judgment task in a 3 T MR scanner. Behavioural data indicated that alcohol-dependents took more time than controls for performing the task but there was no significant difference in their response accuracy. fMRI data analysis revealed that while performing the task, the alcoholics showed enhanced activations in left supramarginal gyrus, precuneus bilaterally, left angular gyrus, and left middle temporal gyrus as compared to control subjects. The extensive activations observed in alcoholics as compared to controls suggest that alcoholics recruit additional brain areas to meet the behavioural demands for equivalent task performance. The results are consistent with previous fMRI studies suggesting compensatory mechanisms for the execution of task for showing an equivalent performance or decreased neural efficiency of relevant brain networks. However, on direct comparison of the two groups, the results did not survive correction for multiple comparisons; therefore, the present findings need further exploration.     

Cloninger's typology and treatment outcome in alcohol-dependent subjects during pharmacotherapy with naltrexone.

Naltrexone is an opiate receptor antagonist mainly at the micro-receptor that is thought to reduce the positively reinforcing, pleasurable effects of alcohol and to reduce craving. An increase in time to first relapse to heavy drinking has been the most consistent finding obtained with naltrexone, although not all trials including two of the largest have been positive. Inconsistent outcome data suggest that effectiveness varies among different subgroups of patients. This paper re-evaluates recent data on the effectiveness of naltrexone in subjects differentiated according to Cloninger Type I and II. Moreover, it combines and cross-validates results of two recent European studies that found naltrexone treatment more beneficial in alcohol-dependent patients with early age at onset of drinking problems (Cloninger Type II). It is discussed whether especially these subjects should be targeted for pharmacological relapse prevention treatment with naltrexone.     

Association of total tooth loss with smoking, drinking alcohol and nutrition in elderly Japanese: analysis of national database

Objective: Various factors may be associated with edentulism in elderly people. Association of total tooth loss with smoking, alcohol intake and nutrition in non‐institutionalised elderly Japanese was assessed utilising national database. Materials and methods: Records of independent surveys, the Survey of Dental Diseases (SDD) and the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) in 1999 were electronically linked using the household identification number. Results: Among the records of 6903 subjects in the SDD and 12 763 subjects in the NNS, 6805 records were successfully linked. Overall, prevalence of total tooth loss in adults was very similar in males and females at approximately 7.0%, and the smoking rate was 47.6% and 9.9% respectively. Total tooth loss was a rare phenomenon (<2%) in age groups of <60 years. According to the multiple logistic regression analysis involving 2200 subjects aged 60 years or older, significant variables were age, current smokers and vitamin C intake in males, and age and current smokers in females. The variable for current drinkers was significant in females but the odds ratio was <1.0. No significant relationship was detected with respect to former smokers and drinkers, body mass index, vitamin E intake and blood glucose level. Conclusions: Current smoking was associated with total tooth loss, although smoking rate was low in females. Gender difference in the association was suggestive with respect to drinking alcohol and vitamin C intake.     

Effect of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking on neutrophil functions in adults

In recent years, the effects of smoking and excessive alcohol consumption on immune function have been studied, due to a high prevalence of infection or cancer in heavy drinkers, and the combination of smoking and drinking was considered to be a carcinogenic risk. However, the effect of smoking and drinking on systemic immune function has yet to be clearly understood. In this study, we investigated neutrophil functions (reactive oxygen species (ROS) productive activity, phagocytic ability and serum opsonic activity) and their relationship with alcohol consumption or amount of smoking. In total there were 731 male and female adult subjects who participated in the Iwaki Health Promotion Project in 2005. Multiple regression analysis showed a trend of increased ROS production in male subjects and a statistically significant decrease was observed in phagocytic activity caused by smoking in female subjects. In other words, oxidative stress caused by smoking in male subjects may be involved in ROS production from neutrophils. Decreased phagocytic activity of neutrophils caused by smoking suggests that host defense functions were impaired in female subjects. A relationship between neutrophil functions and the amount of alcohol consumption was not observed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Doctors' drinking habits and consumption of alcohol.

Alcohol consumption and drinking habits among Finnish doctors were studied as part of a survey of stress and burnout. A questionnaire containing 99 questions or groups of questions was sent to all 3496 practising doctors aged under 66 randomly selected from the registry of the Finnish Medical Association. Altogether 2671 doctors (76%) responded; this sample was representative of the Finnish medical profession. The average weekly consumption of alcohol during the past year and various aspects of drinking behaviour were assessed, and the presence or absence of symptoms and diseases often encountered among heavy drinkers and addicts was determined. The data were analysed separately for men and women, for those aged less than or equal to 40 and greater than 40, and for the men with high and low alcohol consumption and with high and low scores on the index of drinking habits. Selected variables related to work, stress, and coping were correlated with alcohol consumption and drinking behaviour. The median consumption of alcohol among male doctors was 4876 g (6.2 litres) and among female doctors 2226 g (2.8 litres) of absolute alcohol per person per year and was higher in those aged over 40. Beer was most commonly drunk by men and wine by women. Increased alcohol consumption was associated with older age, disappointment with career, heavy smoking, use of benzodiazepines, stress and burnout symptoms, suicidal thoughts, general dissatisfaction, and diseases related to alcohol. Drinking habits were heavier among doctors working in community health centres, those taking long sick leaves, younger doctors disappointed with their careers or the atmosphere at work, and older doctors immersed in their work. Alcohol consumption among doctors seems to be higher than that of the general population in Finland, and heavy drinking seems to be associated with stress and burnout.     

The metabolic control of schistosome egg production

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by infection with trematode parasites of the genus Schistosoma. Despite ongoing treatment programmes, the prevalence of schistosomiasis has failed to decline and the disease remains a cause of severe morbidity in millions of people. Understanding the biology of egg production by schistosomes is critical since eggs allow transmission of the infection, and when trapped in host tissues induce the immune responses that are responsible for the pathologic changes that underlie disease development. Unusually among trematodes, adult schistosomes exhibit sexual dimorphism and display a fascinating codependency in that the female is dependent on the male to grow and sexually mature. Thus, virgin females are developmentally stunted compared with females from mixed‐sex infections and are unable to lay eggs. Moreover, fecund female schistosomes rapidly lose the ability to produce eggs when placed in tissue culture. Here we discuss the metabolic regulation of egg production in schistosomes, and in particular the critical role played by fatty acid oxidation in this process.     

The mathematics of metabolic control analysis revisited

In this minireview, several different approaches to derivation of the theorems and relationships of Metabolic Control Analysis (MCA) are discussed and an alternative approach is presented. This new approach consists of solving the steady-state mass balances for the intracellular metabolites using linearized kinetics. The application of linearized kinetics reflects the fact that MCA is based on linearization of the system equations in a reference steady state. Our derivation is valid for metabolic networks of arbitrary complexity, including those containing conserved moieties and branches. The value of our approach is its simplicity: the derivation is straightforward and therefore easy to follow. It can serve as a compact introduction to the mathematical basis of MCA.     

The physiological control of drinking behaviour in nymphs of Locusta migratoria

ABSTRACT. The changes in behaviour of nymphs of Locusta migratoria in relation to free water, during the course of two different deprivation regimes are described. With no access to food or water for 24 h at 30°C, the insects responded positively to free water when it was provided. If dry food was provided during water deprivation, positive responses occurred in 8 h. The physiological changes associated with the behavioural change indicate that positive responses were correlated with a reduction in abdominal volume; experimentally induced changes confirmed this. Increased osmotic pressure did not influence the onset of drinking, but the amount of water ingested was directly correlated with the size of osmotic pressure increases.     

The use of body mass loss to estimate metabolic rate in birds

During starvation, energy production occurs at the expense of body reserve utilisation which results in body mass loss. Knowing the role of the fuels involved in this body mass loss, along with their energy density, can allow an energy equivalent of mass loss to be calculated. Therefore, it is possible to determine daily energy expenditure (DEE) if two body mass loss measurements at an interval of a few days are obtained. The technique can be cheap, minimally stressful for the animals involved, and the data relatively simple to gather. Here we review the use of body mass loss to estimate DEE in birds through critiquing the strengths and weaknesses of the technique, and detail the methodology and considerations that must be adhered to for accurate measures of DEE to be obtained. Owing to the biology of the species, the use of the technique has been used predominantly in Antarctic seabirds, particularly penguins and albatrosses. We demonstrate how reliable the technique can be in predicting DEE in a non-Antarctic species, common eiders (Somateria mollissima), the female of which undergoes a fasting period during incubation. We conclude that using daily body mass loss to estimate DEE can be a useful and effective approach provided that (1) the substrate being consumed during mass loss is known, (2) the kinetics of body mass loss are understood for the species in question and (3) only species that enter a full phase II of a fast (where substrate catabolism reaches a steady state) and are not feeding for a period of time are appropriate for this method.     

Effect of weight loss on P wave dispersion in obese subjects

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate effect of loss weight on P wave dispersion in obese subjects. Research Methods and Procedures: After a 12‐week weight loss program (diet and medical therapy), a total of 30 (24 women and six men) obese subjects who had lost at least 10% of their original weight were included in the present study. All subjects underwent a routine standard 12‐lead surface electrocardiogram. Electrocardiograms were transferred to a personal computer by a scanner and then magnified 400 times by Adobe Photoshop software (Adobe Systems, Mountain View, CA). P wave dispersion, which is also defined as the difference between the maximum P wave duration and the minimum P wave duration, was also calculated. Results: After a 12‐week weight loss program, BMI (p < 0.001), maximum P wave duration (p < 0.001), and P wave dispersion (p < 0.001) significantly decreased. The mean percentage of weight loss was 13% (10% to 20.3%). The decrease in the level of P wave dispersion (21 ± 10 and 7 ± 12 ms, p < 0.002) was more prominent in Group II (≥12% loss of their original weight) than Group I (<12% loss of their original weight) after the weight loss program. A statistically significant correlation between decrease in the level of P wave dispersion and percentage of weight loss was found (r = 0.624, p < 0.001). Discussion: Substantial weight loss in obese subjects is associated with a decrease of P wave duration and dispersion. Therefore, these observations suggest that substantial weight loss is associated with improvement in atrial repolarization abnormalities in obese subjects.     

Improvement of cardiovascular autonomic reflexes after amelioration of metabolic control in insulin-dependent diabetic subjects with severe autonomic neuropathy

To evaluate the influence of good metabolic equilibrium on Diabetic Autonomic Neuropathy (DAN), cardiovascular autonomic reflexes were monitored in 9 male insulin-dependent diabetic patients with DAN, treated with Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion (CSII) by pump: 9 for 10 days, 4 for 1 year and 2 for 20 months. Autonomic neuropathy was assessed evaluating 5 cardiovascular autonomic tests: Valsalva Manoeuvre (VR), Deep Breathing (DB), Lying-to-Standing (L-S), Sustained Handgrip (SHG), and Postural Hypotension (PH). Metabolic control was assessed evaluating the mean daily plasma glucose, glucosuria and glycosylated hemoglobin. Ten days of CSII treatment induced a normalization of glucose balance and a slight but significant improvement in some parasympathetic cardiovascular tests (VR: from 1.09 +/- 0.01 to 1.13 +/- 0.02; P less than 0.05). After 4-8 months of CSII treatment a significant improvement in VR (P less than 0.05); DB (P less than 0.01) and L-S (P less than 0.05) was recorded. The long-term treatment with CSII did not seem to induce a further amelioration in cardiovascular autonomic reflexes. These results show that the slight improvement induced by good metabolic balance in the cardiovascular autonomic response could be related to functional-metabolic rather than structural changes in the nerves.