Search

This article represents the proceedings of a symposium presented at the 12th Congress of the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism held in Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany, on October 1, 2004. The organizers and cochairs were Nassima Ait-Daoud, MD, and Gerhard A. Wiesbeck, MD. The presentations included the following:L (1) The Role of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Alcohol-Seeking Behavior, by Przemyslaw Bienkowski, MD, PhD; (2) Utilization of Linkage Analysis Combined with Microarray Technology to Identify Genes and Mechanisms Underlying Nicotine and Alcohol Use and Abuse in Humans and Rodents, by Ming D. Li, PhD; (3) Smoking and Alcoholic Chronic Pancreatitis: The Underestimated Risk?, by Roland H. Pfützer, MD; (4) Anticraving Medication in Alcohol and Nicotine Dependence, by Otto M. Lesch, MD, PhD; and (5) Pharmacotherapy for Promotion of Abstinence from Nicotine Among Alcohol-Dependent Individuals, by Bankole A. Johnson, DSc, MD, PhD.

This article summarizes content proceedings of a symposium held at the 2004 International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism Congress in Mannheim, Germany. The chairs were Boris Tabakoff and Friedrich M. Wurst. The presentations were (1) Genetic associations with alcoholism and affective disorders, by Paula Hoffman; (2) Proteomic analysis of blood constituents in alcoholism, by Boris Tabakoff; (3) Contrasts between the responses of GGT and CDT to high alcohol intake, and a test of their combined use, by John Whitfield; (4) Direct ethanol metabolites such as ethyl glucuronide, fatty acid ethyl esters, phosphatidylethanol and ethyl sulfate: a new line of sensitive and specific biomarkers, by Friedrich Martin Wurst; and (5) Genetic studies of alcoholism subtypes in a Han Taiwanese population, by Ru-Band Lu.

This article presents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2004 International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism meeting in Heidelberg/Mannheim, Germany, put together by the German Society of Addiction Therapy and Research (DG-Sucht e.V.). The aim was to give an overview on recent findings from animal to human studies that were conducted by several research groups engaged in the alcoholism field in Germany for longer periods. Results of his animal studies were presented by J. Wolfgramm; G. Buchringer reported on epidemiologic and psychotherapeutic research advances on alcohol-related disorders in Germany. L. G. Schmidt summarized results of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in alcohol dependence, and J. Boening focused on biopsychological personality traits as predictors for relapse in alcoholism. Data relating hyperhomocysteinemia and brain shrinkage in patients with alcoholism were presented by J. Kornhuber. Four addiction research networks federally funded represented their results in separate symposia and were therefore deliberately excluded from this symposium.

Background: Ethyl glucuronide (EtG), a direct ethanol metabolite, seems to meet the need for a sensitive and specific marker for monitoring recent alcohol consumption in different settings. Our aim was to study sensitivity, specificity, and the influence of various parameters on EtG levels in urine. Patients and Methods: Urine samples for a total of 453 patients (373 male, 80 female) were statistically analyzed. The mean age was 37.1 years (median 36, SD 12.59), body mass index was 24.7, total ethanol consumed last month was 1817.66 g (each median), and 80 patients reported cannabis use within the last 30 days. Determination of EtG was performed with a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method with deuterium-labeled EtG as internal standard. Results: For EtG in urine, a good correlation was found with other state markers and days of sobriety. In a regression analysis, age, gender, marijuana use, kidney disease, and total grams of ethanol consumed last month were the variables that significantly influenced EtG levels in contrast to race, smoking, body mass index, cirrhosis of liver, age began drinking regularly, packs of cigarettes smoked last month, and total body water. Furthermore, in a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis to distinguish between nondrinkers and individuals sober >4 days versus individuals drinking in the recent 4 days, area under the curve was 0.834. At a cutoff of 0.145 mg/liter, sensitivity was 83.5% and specificity 68.3%. A receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated for lifetime alcohol abuse or dependence against those who had never been abusers or dependent. In this case, subjects were either never dependent or lifetime dependent, but those currently dependent were excluded. The resulting area under the curve was 0.694. At a cutoff of 0.145 mg/liter, sensitivity was 73.8% and specificity 60.3%. For those with a self-reported sobriety of less than 24 hr, the area under the curve was 0.899, sensitivity was 90.8%, and specificity was 76.5% at a cutoff of 0.435 mg/liter when we calculated nondrinkers and light drinkers against heavy drinkers and drinkers needing treatment. Cannabis-using patients showed significant differences with regard to almost all state markers when compared with nonconsuming subjects. Conclusions: Age, gender, marijuana use, kidney disease, and total grams of ethanol consumed last month should be taken into consideration when interpreting results of EtG in urine. Sensitivity and specificity seem promising. Cannabis use can be regarded as an indicator for other serious mental problems in alcohol-using subjects.