Effect of a Smoking and Alcohol Cessation Intervention Initiated Shortly Before Radical Cystectomy-the STOP-OP Study: A Randomised Clinical Trial.

Background: Evidence concerning the reduction of postoperative complications due to smoking and alcohol drinking in patients undergoing radical cystectomy is incomplete.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a 6-wk smoking and/or alcohol cessation intervention, initiated shortly before surgery and continued until 4 wk after, in reducing complications.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Between 2014 and 2018, we enrolled 104 patients with high-risk bladder cancer who were daily smokers or consuming at least 3 units of alcohol daily in a multicentre randomised clinical trial.

Inter Individual Variation and Factors Regulating the Formation of Phosphatidylethanol.

Background: Alcohol use disorders are a major but often unrecognized health problem. Alcohol markers can therefore be of great value for diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment evaluation. Phosphatidylethanol in blood (B-PEth) is an alcohol biomarker with higher clinical sensitivity and specificity than commonly used alcohol markers but has shown a considerable interindividual variation in relation to reported consumption.

High-Throughput LC-MS/MS Method for Determination of the Alcohol Use Biomarker Phosphatidylethanol in Clinical Samples by Use of a Simple Automated Extraction Procedure-Preanalytical and Analytical Conditions.

Background: Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is an alcohol use biomarker with higher clinical sensitivity and specificity than commonly used alcohol markers. Since its introduction as a clinical alcohol-marker in 2006, the number of samples sent to our laboratory for the determination of PEth has shown a strong annual increase. This has prompted the need to develop a cost-effective and reliable analytical procedure with high capacity.

Alcohol Consumption in Obese Patients Before and After Gastric Bypass as Assessed with the Alcohol Marker Phosphatidylethanol (PEth).

Introduction: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) causes more rapid and enhanced absorption of alcohol. RYGB patients have also been reported to use more inpatient care for alcohol-related disease than do patients after other bariatric procedures. The present study was designed to evaluate alcohol consumption level before and after gastric bypass using a sensitive and specific alcohol biomarker.

Evidence-based Treatment Options in Cannabis Dependency.

Background: Now that the consumption of natural and synthetic cannabinoids is becoming more widespread, the specific treatment of cannabis-related disturbances is an increasingly important matter. There are many therapeutic options, and it is not always clear which ones are evidence-based and appropriate for use in a given clinical situation.

Methods: This review is based on reports of pertinent randomized and controlled trials (RCTs) that were retrieved by a selective search in the PubMed and Cochrane databases.

Phosphatidylethanol is superior to carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and γ-glutamyltransferase as an alcohol marker and is a reliable estimate of alcohol consumption level.

Background: In clinical practice as well as research situations, it is of great importance to get reliable information about a patient's alcohol consumption. The aim of the study was to investigate the correlation of alcohol biomarkers (phosphatidylethanol [PEth], carbohydrate-deficient transferrin [CDT], γ-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase) to retrospective as well as diary-based alcohol self-reports and to examine whether it is possible to correlate a biomarker result to a more precise level of alcohol consumption.

Methods: One hundred and sixty alcohol-dependent patients were included in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of pharmacotherapy for alcohol dependence, of which 115 (76 men and 39 women) completed the study.

Varenicline for treatment of alcohol dependence: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Alcohol dependence is a devastating illness affecting a large population, and new pharmacological treatments with good efficacy are greatly needed. One potential candidate is varenicline, a smoking cessation agent with partial agonist action at α4 β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

Methods: A total of 160 subjects, 30 to 70 years of age, fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence without any serious physical or mental disorders, were recruited through advertisement at 3 university clinics in Sweden during March 2009 to January 2011.

NT-proBNP on Cobas h 232 in point-of-care testing: Performance in the primary health care versus in the hospital laboratory.

Background: NT-proBNP may be useful for ruling out heart failure in primary health care. In this study we examined the analytical quality of NT-proBNP in primary health care on the Cobas h 232 point-of-care instrument compared with measurements performed in a hospital laboratory.

Materials And Methods: Blood samples requested for NT-proBNP were collected in primary health care (n = 95) and in a hospital laboratory (n = 107).

Phosphatidylethanol Compared with Other Blood Tests as a Biomarker of Moderate Alcohol Consumption in Healthy Volunteers: A Prospective Randomized Study.

Aim: It is generally agreed that traditional alcohol biomarkers lack in sensitivity to detect hazardous alcohol consumption. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the ability of phosphatidylethanol (PEth) and traditional alcohol markers to detect moderate alcohol consumption and to distinguish between moderate alcohol consumption and abstinence.

Methods: Forty-four subjects, 32 females and 12 males, were included in the study.

Detection of phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in the blood of drivers in an alcohol ignition interlock program.

Objective: The rate of failed interlock blood alcohol content (BAC) tests is a strong predictor of recidivism post-interlock and a partial proxy for alcohol use. Alcohol biomarkers measured at the start of an interlock program are known to correlate well with rates of failed BAC tests over months of interlock use. This study evaluates 2 methods of measuring low blood levels of the biomarker phosphatidylethanol (PEth).

Phosphatidylethanol in blood (B-PEth): a marker for alcohol use and abuse.

Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) represents a group of glycerophospholipid homologues where ethanol by phospholipase D has been bound at the position that normally contains an amino-alcohol. Since the formation of PEth is specifically dependent on ethanol, the diagnostic specificity of PEth as an alcohol biomarker is theoretically 100%. The half-life of PEth in blood is approximately 4 days.