Effectiveness of structured questionnaires for screening heavy drinking in middle-aged women.

Background: There is a need for an effective and feasible alcohol screening instrument. The aim of the study was to evaluate how the abbreviated versions of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire perform in comparison with the original AUDIT and what the optimal cutoffs are when screening for heavy drinking among women.

Methods: All the 40-year-old women in the city of Tampere, Finland, are invited yearly for a health screening.

Method for localization of sialic acid on cell surface and cell interior in peripheral blood: a pilot study.

This article presents a method for identification and localization of cell surface and intracellular sialoglycoconjugates of peripheral blood cells. To reveal cell surface conjugates, a sample of peripheral blood was incubated with lectin after centrifugation and rinsing. For intracellular localization in leukocytes, RBCs were lysed and the membranes were permeabilized prior to cytochemical reaction.

Alcohol misuse increases serum antibodies to oxidized LDL and C-reactive protein.

Aims: To clarify the relationship of alcohol consumption with serum antibodies to oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and the inflammation marker C-reactive protein (CRP).

Methods: The study population consisted of 280 men with evidence of alcohol misuse by having self-reported alcohol consumption values over 280 g absolute ethanol per week and 250 age-matched moderate drinkers from a population of Finnish men participating in the FINRISK survey study. Serum samples were analysed for antibodies to oxLDL, C-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT).

Do temporal arteritis lesions contain bacterial DNA?

Background: Temporal arteritis is a primary vascular inflammatory disease. The aetiology of temporal arteritis is unknown, but the influence of environmental factors such as infections has been suggested.

Materials And Methods: We used broad-range PCR, targeting conserved regions of the gene encoding for ribosomal RNA, to detect bacterial DNA in 27 temporal artery biopsies.

Trends in serum cholesterol and lifestyle indicators in Members of the Finnish Parliament.

Objective: To examine the extent that public health promotion activity is reflected in life styles of national decision makers, by analysing trends in coronary heart disease risk factors in Members of the Finnish Parliament (MPs).

Methods: The MPs were studied at the beginning of two subsequent 4-year parliamentary periods between 1991 and 1999. The studies included analyses of serum total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and a questionnaire about alcohol, smoking and physical activity.

Effect of type of alcoholic beverages on carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, sialic acid, and liver enzymes.

Background: There are only limited data obtained under well controlled conditions on the effects of moderate drinking on markers of alcohol use disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of moderate intake of different alcoholic beverages on these markers, including carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), sialic acid (SA), and the liver enzymes gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase.

Methods: Eleven apparently healthy, nonsmoking middle-aged men were included in a 12-week randomized, diet-controlled crossover trial according to a 4 x 4 Latin-square design.

Serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 concentration in angiographically assessed coronary artery disease.

Expression of several matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in atherosclerotic plaques has been well documented, and there are findings to indicate that arterial inflammation is reflected in increased serum concentration of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). In coronary atherosclerosis, there is enhanced expression of this MMP, which may be predictive of the severity of the disease. We determined the concentrations of serum MMP-9 in 61 patients (47 males, 14 females) who had >50% obstruction in one or more coronary arteries as assessed by coronary angiography before bypass surgery.

Substance use-related outpatient consultations in specialized health care: an underestimated entity.

Background: To study the occurrence and documentation of substance use related outpatient visits in specialized health care.

Methods: The diagnosis recorded in retrospective discharge data in Tampere University Hospital for 6 years was compared with the prospective data gathered from separately completed forms added during an 8-week period to every outpatient's discharge data. In this form, the relation of substance use and the actual reason for the consultation were specifically elicited.

Self-reported alcohol consumption and association to carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and gamma-glutamyltransferase in a random sample of the general population in the Republic of Karelia, Russia and in North Karelia, Finland.

In the present study, alcohol consumption was estimated in a population survey in Pitkäranta in the Republic of Karelia, Russia (RUS) and in the neighbouring province of North Karelia in Finland (FIN) in the spring of 1997 in connection with the National FINRISK Study. Alcohol consumption was evaluated by self-report and by the biological markers carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). In RUS, elevated CDT values were observed in 36.

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 is elevated in serum of alcohol abusers.

Background: Moderate alcohol consumption has been shown to protect against coronary heart disease. However, excessive alcohol use has been suggested to have detrimental effects on the cardiovascular system. We examined whether there is an association between alcohol abuse and circulating levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which has been linked to unstable coronary heart disease and arterial inflammation.

Opposite associations of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and gamma-glutamyltransferase with prevalent coronary heart disease.

Background: Moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but excessive alcohol consumption is probably harmful to the heart. We analyzed the association of 2 commonly used markers of alcohol consumption-carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT)-and self-reported alcohol consumption with prevalent CHD.

Methods: The study included a random sample of 3666 Finnish men aged 25 to 74 years who participated in a risk factor survey in 1997.

Association of serum MMP-9 with autoantibodies against oxidized LDL.

Monocyte-derived macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques secrete matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which may contribute to plaque rupture. There has been much speculation as to which factors precipitate in the arterial inflammation. Oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) has been suggested to have proinflammatory properties, and it has been shown to increase matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) secretion by macrophages in vitro.

The role of biomarkers in alcoholism medication trials.

Background: Increasingly, biomarkers are being incorporated into the research design of clinical trials on medications to reduce drinking in alcoholics. To date, however, there has been little analysis of the unique roles that biomarkers can play in such investigations or of the practical and conceptual considerations that surround their best use in this context.

Methods: Clinical trials of alcoholism medications published between 1985 and the present were abstracted to determine how biomarkers were used and how changes in them related to self-report measures of drinking.

Association of self-reported diseases and health care use with commonly used laboratory markers for alcohol consumption.

The relationships of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and their mathematical combination (gamma-CDT) with self-reported diseases were evaluated in a large cross-sectional risk factor survey. Significant gender effects were observed in associations of the markers with several medical conditions as well as with general health care utilization. In men, CDT was associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

Serum homocysteine does not associate with uncomplicated coronary heart disease.

Background: Elevated serum homocysteine concentrations have been related to coronary heart disease. However, the association has not indisputably been proven, and the mechanisms by which homocysteine may be atherogenic have only partially been elucidated. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether serum homocysteine is associated with angina pectoris and myocardial infarction.

Brief intervention for male heavy drinkers in routine general practice: a three-year randomized controlled study.

The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of long-term brief intervention in routine general practice. In five primary care out-patient clinics in a Finnish town, 296 male early-phase heavy drinkers consulting a general practitioner (GP) for various reasons were identified. Control group C (n = 88) was informed of the risks of drinking after the screening and were advised at the subsequent feedback about 2 weeks later to reduce their drinking.

Improved diagnostic classification of alcohol abusers by combining carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and gamma-glutamyltransferase.

Background: Biochemical markers can provide objective evidence of high alcohol consumption. However, currently available markers have limitations in their diagnostic performance.

Methods: The diagnostic values of the most frequently used markers [carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and mean corpuscular volume] were studied in an analysis of six different clinical studies (n = 1412) on alcohol abusers and social drinkers.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin: an aid to early recognition of alcohol relapse.

Although the primary use of biochemical markers of heavy drinking is to assist in screening for alcohol problems, laboratory tests may also aid in early identification of relapse. This report reviews research findings on a new marker, carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT), in alcoholics receiving treatment or in follow-up. It also offers recommendations on how CDT may be employed by clinicians monitoring drinking status.

Opinions on alcohol-related issues among professionals in primary, occupational, and specialized health care.

The objective of this study was to analyse differences in health care personnel's knowledge, skills, and attitudes in relation to alcohol-related matters by a postal questionnaire between primary, occupational, and specialized health care. Heavy drinking was considered to be common among patients at all health care levels, and particularly in specialized health care. However, early recognition and treatment of heavy drinkers was considered more appropriate in primary and occupational health care, than in specialized health care.

Possible reasons why heavy drinking increases carbohydrate-deficient transferrin.

Background: Transferrin is a globular protein synthesized in the liver that is responsible for iron transport in plasma. The structure of the molecule consists of two carbohydrate residues to which six sialic acid moieties can be attached. After periods of chronic, heavy alcohol consumption, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) isoforms often increase, which makes CDT a useful marker in screening for alcohol abuse and monitoring progress of alcoholics in treatment.

Association of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyl-transferase (GGT) with serum lipid profile in the Finnish population.

Background: Moderate consumption of alcohol may reduce mortality from vascular diseases. The beneficial effects of alcohol may partly be mediated by its effects on lipoprotein metabolism. We studied the connection between alcohol consumption and the serum lipid profile from a well-documented national health program study.

Increased distractibility by task-irrelevant sound changes in abstinent alcoholics.

Background: Chronic alcoholism is accompanied by "frontal" neuropsychological deficits that include an inability to maintain focus of attention. This might be associated with pronounced involuntary attention shifting to task-irrelevant stimulus changes and, thereafter, an impaired reorienting to the relevant task. The neural abnormalities that underlie such deficits in alcoholics were explored with event-related potential (ERP) components that disclosed different phases of detection and orienting to stimulus changes.

Brief intervention for female heavy drinkers in routine general practice: a 3-year randomized, controlled study.

Background: Today, heavy drinking is a common health hazard among women. The evidence in favor of providing some kind of brief intervention to reduce drinking is quite convincing. However, we do not know if intervention works in a natural environment of routine health care.