bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comments on Integrating Person‐Centered and Variable‐Centered Research on Problems Associated With the Use of Alcohol
Authors: Horn John L. 
Published: April 2006

Abstract: For any sample of m different variables obtained on a sample of n different persons, there is an identity transformation between classifications of persons (types) that are defined with person‐centered methods and classifications of variables (factors) defined with variable‐centered methods: types are manifested in factors and factors are expressed in types. Both kinds of methods analyze the variability—the same variability—in a persons‐by‐variables data matrix. Person‐centered types can be transformed into variable‐centered factors. Thus, at a basic level there is a basis for integrating person‐centered and variable‐centered research.But there are many different ways to implement person‐centered methods, just as there are many different ways to resolve variables into factors, and generally any model for analysis directed at identifying types will not be the complement of a model selected for analysis leading to factors. Thus, while the results from the two kinds of analysis can be related to one another, the results they produce in applications can be quite different. Also, in practice, one method is used before the other. For example, person‐centered methods might be used to form types, which are then studied with multiple‐group, variable‐centered methods to test hypotheses specifying invariance or differences of relationships across types. There are good reasons to think in terms of types as one contemplates analysis in terms of variables. But the reverse also is true.In typological analysis, it must be assumed that types exist and that samples of subjects and indicator variables are drawn in ways that can reveal this. Different typologies indicated by person‐centered research are most concretely compared if the different studies use comparable sets of persons, indicator variables, and other variables that can indicate correlates.Strictly speaking, none of these sets were comparable in the three substantive studies reviewed here. Nevertheless, at an abstract level it was possible to see that the results of the three studies agreed in indicating that there is a type of adolescent and young adult that, by and large, does not have—or at least does not report having—problems associated with the use of alcohol. This type is in the majority, accounting for approximately 60% of the youth sampled in the reviewed studies. The studies agree also in suggesting that types may emerge along a continuum of maladjustment characterized by increasing use of alcohol and other drugs, failures in school, problems at home, interpersonal difficulties, delinquency, and legal problems. Variable‐centered dynamic analyses might further describe phenomena of this kind.
Genetic Control of Acute Ethanol‐Induced Behaviors in Drosophila
Authors: Singh Carol M. , Heberlein Ulrike 
Published: April 2006

Background: In most organisms in which acute ethanol exposure has been studied, it leads to similar changes in behavior. Generally, low ethanol doses activate the central nervous system, whereas high doses are sedative. Sensitivity to the acute intoxicating effects of ethanol is in part under genetic control in rodents and humans, and reduced sensitivity in humans predicts the development of alcoholism (Crabbe et al., 1994; Schuckit, 1994). We have established Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to study the mechanisms that regulate acute sensitivity to ethanol.Methods: We measured the effects of ethanol vapor on Drosophila locomotor behaviors by using three different assays. Horizontal locomotion was quantified in a locomotor chamber, turning behavior was assayed in narrow tubes, and ethanol‐induced loss of postural control was measured in an inebriometer. Mutants with altered sensitivity to the acute effects of ethanol were generated by treatment with ethyl methane sulfonate and isolated by selection in the inebriometer. We ascertained the effects of these mutations on ethanol pharmacokinetics by measuring ethanol levels in extracts of flies at various times during and after ethanol exposure.Results: Among nearly 30,000 potentially mutant flies tested, we isolated 19 mutant strains with reduced and 4 strains with increased sensitivity to the acute effects of ethanol as measured in the inebriometer. Of these mutants, four showed changes in ethanol absorption. Two mutants, named barfly and tipsy to reflect their reduced and increased ethanol sensitivity in the inebriometer, respectively, were analyzed for locomotor behaviors. Both mutants exhibited ethanol‐induced hyperactivity that was indistinguishable from wild type. However, barfly and tipsy displayed reduced and increased sensitivity to the sedative effects of ethanol, respectively. Finally, both mutants showed an increased rate of ethanol‐induced turning behavior.Conclusions: The effects of acute ethanol exposure on Drosophila locomotor behaviors are remarkably similar to those described for mammals. The analysis of mutants with altered sensitivity to ethanol revealed that the genetic pathways which regulate these responses are complex and that single genes can affect hyperactivity, turning, and sedation independently.
Enhanced Clinical Utility of γ‐CDT in a General Population
Authors: Sillanaukee Pekka , Massot Nuria , Jousilahti Pekka , Vartiainen Erkki , Poikolainen Kari , Olsson Ulf , Alho Hannu 
Published: April 2006

Background: The use of a combination of markers to detect excessive alcohol consumption has been reported to provide better sensitivity in the diagnosis of alcohol abuse than single markers. However, the optimal combination of markers for the diagnosis of alcohol abuse has not yet been found. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin (CDT) and γ‐glutamyltransferase (GGT) to discriminate among heavy drinkers (>280 g/week), moderate drinkers (105–280 g/week), and light drinkers (<105 g/week). Their mathematical combination, named γ‐CDT, which has been found to be a strong marker of alcohol abuse in a former study, was also evaluated.Methods: The study was conducted in a group of 6962 subjects (3974 males and 2988 females), between the ages of 25 and 74 years, who participated in a large cross‐sectional risk factor survey carried out in five geographic areas in Finland. In each study area, an age‐ and gender‐stratified random sample was drawn from the general population. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the performance of CDT, GGT, and γ‐CDT.Results: For both sexes, the combined marker had the highest specificity (95%) and sensitivity in detecting heavy drinkers. In all cases, γ‐CDT had the highest area under ROC plots. Our results also showed that GGT and CDT have similar, and rather low, sensitivity but high specificity in a general population.Conclusions: Compared with single markers, a significant improvement of sensitivity was obtained when the combination of both markers was used, especially in females.
Adverse Working Conditions and Alcohol Use in Men and Women
Authors: José B. San , van de Mheen H. , van Oers J. A. M. , Mackenbach J. P. , Garretsen H. F. L. 
Published: April 2006

Objective This study examined the association between adverse working conditions and abstinence and heavy drinking.Methods: The study was a cross‐sectional study within the framework of a general population survey conducted in Eindhoven, The Netherlands (N = 7533). Working conditions were classified into four domains: hazardous physical working conditions, demands at work, level of control over one's job, and support from coworkers and supervisors. Abstainers were compared with drinkers; within drinkers, heavy drinkers were compared with light‐moderate drinkers, and those who reported binge drinking were compared with those who did not report binge drinking.Results: Respondents who reported adverse working conditions were as likely to be abstainers as they were to be drinkers. Within drinkers, males and females who reported high hazardous physical working conditions were more likely to be heavy drinkers than to be light‐moderate drinkers (light‐moderate is not just an amount, but a combination of amount and frequency) and to report binge drinking (males only). Respondents who reported high demands were also more likely to be heavy drinkers than to be light‐moderate drinkers.Conclusions: Stressful circumstances, such as adverse working conditions, were associated with high levels of alcohol intake among drinking men and women.
Increased Serum Tissue Polypeptide Specific Antigen (TPS) in Alcoholics: A Possible Marker of Alcoholic Hepatitis
Authors: González‐Quintela A. , Mella C. , Pérez L. F. , Abdulkader I. , Caparrini A. M. , Lojo S. 
Published: April 2006

Background: Serum tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) is widely used as a tumor proliferation marker. There is some evidence of an increase in serum TPS in benign liver diseases. The aim of the study was to evaluate serum TPS levels in alcoholics.Methods: Seventy‐seven alcoholics (64 men and 13 women) admitted to the hospital with ethanol withdrawal syndrome entered the study. Twenty‐three patients were biopsied (12 of them had alcoholic hepatitis and 11 steatosis or fibrosteatosis). Serum TPS was determined by enzyme immunoassay in all cases. Results were compared with those of 24 healthy controls.Results: Serum TPS levels were significantly increased in alcoholic patients compared with controls (median 365 units/liter and range 41–6400 units/liter versus median 79 units/liter and range 19–235 units/liter, respectively, p < 0.0001). Seventeen alcoholics (22%) had a TPS value 10 times higher than the upper normal threshold level (≥1000 units/liter). Among alcoholics, serum TPS levels were higher in patients with alcoholic hepatitis than in those with steatosis or fibrosteatosis (median 1486 units/liter and range 176‐5023 units/liter versus median 106 units/liter and range 41–221 units/liter, respectively, p= 0.0001), offering a better discriminant value for the diagnosis of alcoholic hepatitis than usual liver function parameters. Serum TPS values showed significant correlation with liver cell necrosis and Mallory's hyaline degeneration. TPS values decreased after alcohol abstinence during hospital admission.Conclusions: Serum TPS is frequently increased in alcoholics and may be a marker of alcoholic hepatitis. Specificity of this molecule as a tumor marker is limited in alcoholics.
Ethanol in Human Brain by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: Correlation With Blood and Breath Levels, Relaxation, and Magnetization Transfer
Authors: Fein George , Meyerhoff Dieter J. 
Published: April 2006

Background: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) allows measurement of alcohol in the human brain after alcohol consumption. However, the quantity of alcohol that can be detected in the brain by 1H MRS pulse sequences has been controversial, with values ranging from about 24% to 94% of the temporally concordant blood alcohol concentrations. The quantitation of brain alcohol is critically affected by the kinetics of alcohol uptake and elimination, by the relaxation times of the protons that give rise to the brain alcohol signal, and by the specifics of both pulse sequence timing and radio frequency pulse applications.Methods: We investigated these factors in 20 light‐drinking subjects after oral administration of approximately 0.85 g/kg body weight of alcohol by localized 1H MRS and measurements of blood and breath alcohol concentrations obtained at the same time. Specifically, we measured transverse and longitudinal relaxation times of brain alcohol and its signal saturation on application of on‐ or off‐resonance radio frequency pulses. All 1H MRS measurements were performed at a time after brain and blood alcohol concentrations had equilibrated.Results: 1H MRS measures of brain alcohol were correlated highly with both breath and blood alcohol concentrations after equilibration in brain tissue. The measured 1H MRS relaxation times of brain alcohol were shorter than given in previous reports that were limited by smaller subject numbers, improper use of 1H MRS methods, and estimates rather than measurements. The brain alcohol signal decreased by about 30% on application of on‐ or off‐resonance saturation pulses.Conclusions: 1H MRS allows direct measurement of brain alcohol, formerly only possible indirectly through inferences from breath alcohol levels. Quantitation of brain alcohol levels need to take into account measured relaxation times and alcohol signal attenuation due to presence and timing of standard radio frequency MRS pulses. Saturation experiments give evidence for the existence of more than one compartment of brain alcohol characterized by different molecular environments. They suggest that a fraction of brain alcohol is invisible to 1H MRS.
Ethanol Decreases Zinc Transfer to the Fetus in Normal but Not Metallothionein‐Null Mice
Authors: Carey Luke C. , Coyle Peter , Philcox Jeffrey C. , Rofe Allan M. 
Published: April 2006

Background: Ethanol causes significant teratogenicity in normal (MT+/+) but not metallothionein‐null (MT−/−) fetuses. Impaired maternal fetal zinc (Zn) transfer is indicated, because ethanol significantly reduces plasma Zn concentrations in MT+/+ dams while increasing concentrations in MT−/− dams. In this study we examined maternal‐fetal Zn homeostasis in response to ethanol in MT+/+ and MT−/− mice and the origins of the increase in plasma Zn in MT−/− mice.Methods and Results: Mice were treated with saline or ethanol (0.015 ml/g intraperitoneally at 0 and 4 hr) on day 12 of gestation. An additional subcutaneous injection of 65Zn tracer was administered after the second ethanol injection before mice were killed 3 hr later. Maternal liver MT levels were not different between ethanol and saline MT+/+ mice. Both liver Zn and 65Zn levels were higher in MT+/+ mice. Plasma Zn concentrations were higher in MT−/− mice, with MT−/− ethanol‐treated mice having levels greater than those of MT−/− saline‐treated controls. MT+/+ ethanol‐treated fetuses exhibited lower 65Zn transfer and whole Zn concentrations compared with MT+/+ and MT−/− saline and MT−/− ethanol fetuses. So we could examine changes in plasma Zn after ethanol treatment, MT+/+ and MT−/− mice were injected with 65Zn 3 days before they received ethanol treatment. Muscle and skin showed a decrease in 65Zn retention in both genotypes over 3 hr. There was a trend toward greater 65Zn release from skin and muscle at an earlier time in MT−/− mice: 24% vs. 2% decrease (MT−/− vs. MT+/+) for muscle and 28% vs. 15% decrease (MT−/− vs. MT+/+) for skin at 2 hr.Conclusions: The results show (a) that ethanol interferes with the transfer of Zn to the fetus, and that this is MT dependent, and (b) that the increase in plasma Zn seen in MT−/− mice after ethanol administration is a result of Zn release from the skin and muscle, in the absence of hepatic Zn sequestration.
Barriers to and Need for Alcohol Services for Women in Rural Populations
Authors: Booth Brenda M. , McLaughlin Yvonne S. 
Published: April 2006

Background: This article reviews and summarizes the research on alcohol problems and issues related to alcohol services for rural women.Methods: We discuss the prevalence of alcohol problems, help‐seeking behavior and barriers to help‐seeking for rural women and suggest directions for future research for rural women with alcohol problems. We also address key methodological issues in measuring rurality that must be considered when designing research on rural women.Results: Little is known about these topics, specifically for rural women, and much has to be currently inferred either from studies of psychiatric disorders in rural populations, from studies of urban or suburban women, or from general research about rural life.Conclusions: Increased knowledge regarding specific issues for women with alcohol problems in rural areas, particularly about gender‐specific barriers to obtaining services and gender‐specific needs for particular services, will be beneficial for developing programs designed to meet the unique needs of this group of women.
Allelic Variation in the GABAA Receptor γ2 Subunit Is Associated With Genetic Susceptibility to Ethanol‐Induced Motor Incoordination and Hypothermia, Conditioned Taste Aversion, and Withdrawal in BXD/Ty Recombinant Inbred Mice
Authors: Hood Heather M. , Buck Kari J. 
Published: April 2006

Background: Behavioral genomics has made dramatic progress toward mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that contain genes responsible for phenotypic differences in a variety of behavioral responses to alcohol (ethanol). We previously identified a QTL on mouse Chromosome 11 that affects genetic predisposition to acute alcohol withdrawal. Among mice derived from the C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) inbred strains, this QTL (Alcw3) accounts for 12% of the genetic variability in withdrawal liability. Candidate genes within this QTL encode the γ‐aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor γ2, α1, α6, and β2 subunits. We recently identified a coding sequence polymorphism between the B6 and D2 strains for the GABAA receptor γ2 subunit gene (Gabrg2). In this study, we expand our analysis to a panel of BXD strains derived from the B6 and D2 progenitor strains. These BXD strains provide 26 fixed recombinant genotypes that can be used to examine genetic correlations, for example, between a phenotype of interest and allelic variation in a candidate gene.Methods: Gabrg2 was cloned and sequenced from the 26 BXD recombinant inbred strains. We analyzed genetic correlations between allelic variation in Gabrg2 and alcohol phenotypes previously measured in the BXD strain means.Results: Allelic variation in Gabrg2 is correlated genetically with predisposition to acute alcohol withdrawal and may underlie the Alcw3 locus. In addition, Gabrg2 is associated with ethanol‐conditioned taste aversion, ethanol‐induced motor incoordination, and ethanol‐induced hypothermia. A trend is observed for chronic ethanol withdrawal, ethanol‐induced loss of righting reflex, and tolerance to ethanol‐induced hypothermia and ataxia.Conclusions: Functionally relevant variation in Gabrg2, or a closely linked gene, is correlated genetically with some, but not all, behavioral responses to alcohol. The alcohol‐related phenotypes associated with Gabrg2 generally may be characterized as debilitating or motivationally negative.
Effects of Allopregnanolone on the EEG of Alcohol‐Preferring and Alcohol‐Nonpreferring Rats
Authors: Slawecki C. J. , Purdy R. H. , Li T‐K. , Walpole T. , Ehlers C. L. 
Published: April 2006

Background: Alcohol preferring (P) and alcohol‐nonpreferring (NP) rats have been shown to have differing behavioral and electrophysiological responses to drugs that are positive modulators of the γ‐aminobutyric acid type A (GABA‐A) receptor complex, such as ethanol and benzodiazepines. The neuroactive steroid allopregnanolone is also a positive modulator of GABA‐A receptors; therefore, we hypothesized that P and NP rats would respond differently to intraperitoneally administered allopregnanolone.Methods: Male P and NP rats were implanted with screw electrodes that overlay the frontal and parietal cortices and with a depth electrode aimed at the amygdala. Allopregnanolone (0.0–10.0 mg/kg ip) was administered 10 min before recording the EEG.Results: Allopregnanolone increased high‐frequency power (8–32 Hz) in the cortex and amygdala of both P rats and NP rats. In addition, allopregnanolone increased the predominant frequency of the cortical EEG in the 8 to 16 Hz bandwidth, decreased the predominant frequency in the 32 to 50 Hz bandwidth, and increased EEG variability (16–50 Hz). The effects of allopregnanolone were qualitatively similar in P and NP rats. However, P rats were more sensitive to low doses of allopregnanolone in cortex, whereas NP rats responded to lower doses of allopregnanolone in the amygdala.Conclusions: These data indicate that P and NP rats differ in their sensitivity to the EEG effects of allopregnanolone in the cortex and amygdala, which suggests that differences in GABAergic systems between P and NP rats may contribute to some of the differences observed in their behavioral repertoire.
Serum 6‐Beta‐Naltrexol Levels Are Related to Alcohol Responses in Heavy Drinkers
Authors: McCaul Mary E. , Wand Gary S. , Rohde Charles , Lee Shing M. 
Published: April 2006

Background: There is strong evidence for the role of the endogenous opioid system in alcohol reinforcement and consumption; however, recent human laboratory studies and clinical trials have reported mixed effects of naltrexone (a nonselective opioid antagonist) on alcohol‐related behaviors. This paper reports a secondary data analysis of a human laboratory study that examines the relationship between serum levels of 6‐beta‐naltrexol, the major, biologically active metabolite of naltrexone, and subjective effects of alcohol.Methods: The study used a within‐subjects design to examine the effects of naltrexone (0, 50, and 100 mg/day) on subjective responses to alcohol (none, moderate, and high dose) in heavy drinkers (n= 23). Each subject received three doses of naltrexone in random order; each naltrexone dose was administered over an 8 day period on an inpatient unit, with a 1 week outpatient washout between doses. After stabilization at each of the naltrexone doses, subjects participated in three alcohol challenge sessions (none, moderate, and high dose) in random order; thus, each subject participated in a total of nine alcohol administration sessions.Results: Doubling the naltrexone dose (50 vs. 100 mg/day) doubled the mean serum 6‐beta‐naltrexol levels. At each naltrexone dose, there was a 4‐fold range in 6‐beta‐naltrexol levels across subjects. Before alcohol administration, higher 6‐beta‐naltrexol levels were associated with higher ratings of sedation. After high‐dose alcohol administration, higher 6‐beta‐naltrexol levels were associated with significantly lower ratings of liking and best effects.Conclusions: These findings provide further evidence of the involvement of the opioid system in the modulation of alcohol effects and suggest that serum 6‐beta‐naltrexol concentrations may be important in predicting therapeutic response to naltrexone.
Objective Diagnosis of Alcohol Abuse: Compared Values of Carbohydrate‐Deficient Transferrin (CDT), γ‐Glutamyl Transferase (GGT), and Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV)
Authors: Reynaud Michel , Schellenberg François , Loisequx‐Meunier Marie‐Nadia , Schwan Raymund , Maradeix Bertrand , Planche François , Gillet Claudine 
Published: April 2006

Background: Alcohol abuse is roughly twice as common as alcohol dependence. Subjects with alcohol problems are usually diagnosed only when medical complications are present. Therefore, both doctors and patients need a method for early diagnosis of alcohol abuse.Methods: The mean corpuscular volume, γ‐glutamyl transferase, and carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin in alcohol abusers, alcohol‐dependent patients, and “nonalcohol hospital” individuals were compared.Results: For objective diagnosis of alcohol abuse, we found a sensitivity of 24%, a specificity of 96%, and a global predictive value of 63% for mean corpuscular volume; a sensitivity of 42%, a specificity of 76%, and a global predictive value of 61% for γ‐glutamyl transferase; and a sensitivity of 67%, a specificity of 97%, and a global predictive value of 84% for carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin.Conclusions: Carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin proves to be the best marker of alcohol abuse. It allows objective detection so that therapeutic action can be started early, which is easier and more effective than in alcohol dependence.