Supporting alcohol brief interventions and pharmacotherapy provision in Australian First Nations primary care: exploratory analysis of a cluster randomised trial.

Introduction: Primary care provides an important opportunity to detect unhealthy alcohol use and offer assistance but many barriers to this exist. In an Australian context, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) are community-led and run health services, which provide holistic primary care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. A recent cluster randomised trial conducted with ACCHS provided a service support model which showed a small but significant difference in provision of 'any treatment' for unhealthy alcohol use.

Clinical toxicology of acute glyphosate self-poisoning: impact of plasma concentrations of glyphosate, its metabolite and polyethoxylated tallow amine surfactants on the toxicity.

Introduction: Common major co-formulants in glyphosate-based herbicides, polyethoxylated tallow amine surfactants, are suspected of being more toxic than glyphosate, contributing to the toxicity in humans. However, limited information exists on using polyethoxylated tallow amine concentrations to predict clinical outcomes. We investigated if plasma concentrations of glyphosate, its metabolite and polyethoxylated tallow amines can predict acute kidney injury and case fatality in glyphosate poisoning.

A polygenic risk score for alcohol-associated cirrhosis among heavy drinkers with European ancestry.

Background: Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS) based on results from genome-wide association studies offer the prospect of risk stratification for many common and complex diseases. We developed a PRS for alcohol-associated cirrhosis by comparing single-nucleotide polymorphisms among patients with alcohol-associated cirrhosis (ALC) versus drinkers who did not have evidence of liver fibrosis/cirrhosis.

Methods: Using a data-driven approach, a PRS for ALC was generated using a meta-genome-wide association study of ALC (N=4305) and an independent cohort of heavy drinkers with ALC and without significant liver disease (N=3037).

Alcohol screening in 22 Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations: Clinical context and who is screened.

Introduction: Alcohol screening among Indigenous Australians is important to identify individuals needing support to reduce their drinking. Understanding clinical contexts in which clients are screened, and which clients are more or less likely to be screened, could help identify areas of services and communities that might benefit from increased screening.

Methods: We analysed routinely collected data from 22 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations Australia-wide.

Evaluating the programme and behavior change theories of a community alcohol education intervention in rural Sri Lanka: a study protocol.

Risky alcohol use is a major public health problem globally and in Sri Lanka. While a reduction in alcohol consumption can result in physical, mental, and social benefits, behaviour change is difficult to achieve. Effective, context-adapted interventions are required to minimise alcohol-related harm at a community level.

MicroRNAs Signature Panel Identifies Heavy Drinkers with Alcohol-Associated Cirrhosis from Heavy Drinkers without Liver Injury.

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is the most common disorder of prolonged drinking. Mechanisms underlying cirrhosis in such patients remain unclear. MicroRNAs play regulatory role in several diseases, are affected by alcohol and may be important players in alcohol use disorders, such as cirrhosis.

Investigating the role of lipid genes in liver disease using fatty liver models of alcohol and high fat in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Background: Accumulation of lipid in the liver is the first hallmark of both alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Recent studies indicate that specific mutations in lipid genes confer risk and might influence disease progression to irreversible liver cirrhosis. This study aimed to understand the function/s of lipid risk genes driving disease development in zebrafish genetic models of alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related fatty liver.

Alcohol relapse prevention health care after alcohol withdrawal in New South Wales prisons, Australia: A patient file review.

Introduction: People who enter custody have complex health issues and comorbidities may include alcohol use disorders. We investigated clinical service provision and comorbidities recorded among individuals with a likely alcohol withdrawal syndrome within prison in New South Wales, Australia.

Methods: For this clinical case series review, electronic medical data were used to identify 50 people entering custody between August and November 2018 who likely had a treated alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

Learnings from a prison-based drug treatment program on planning for release: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Prison-based drug and alcohol group treatment programs operate in all Australian jurisdictions. With more than two-thirds of people in prison having a history of substance use prior to incarceration, such programs are needed. There have been few published papers on the impact of attending group treatment programs in Australian prisons, and the research published to date has been predominately quantitative.

Using the Behaviour Change Wheel and modified Delphi method to identify behavioural change techniques for improving adherence to smoking cessation medications.

Background: Medication adherence is a crucial component of the pharmacological treatment of smoking. Previous interventions targeted to improve adherence to smoking cessation medications (SCMs) were designed using pragmatic approaches. This study aims to develop a comprehensive intervention strategy to improve adherence to SCMs using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) and a modified Delphi method.

Community-based alcohol education intervention (THEATRE) study to reduce harmful effects of alcohol in rural Sri Lanka: design and adaptation of a mixed-methods stepped wedge cluster randomised control trial.

Introduction: Alcohol consumption is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity and adverse social sequelae in Sri Lanka. Effective community-based, culturally adapted or context-specific interventions are required to minimise these harms. We designed a mixed-methods stepped wedge cluster randomised control trial of a complex alcohol intervention.

Alcohol and other drug use before custody among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in New South Wales, Australia.

Objective: Alcohol and other drug (AoD) use is a significant factor in the poor health status of people in prison. Our aim is to explore associations of alcohol consumption with tobacco and illicit drug use among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in prison to inform health services, clinical care and support.

Methods: We analysed the alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use data of the 2015 Network Patient Health Survey of adults in custody in New South Wales (n=1,132).

Central markers of neuroinflammation in alcohol use disorder: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging, cerebral spinal fluid, and postmortem studies.

Introduction And Aims: There is emerging evidence that heavy long-term alcohol consumption may alter the neuroimmune profile. We conducted a meta-analysis of the association between alcohol use disorder (AUD) and the extent of neuroinflammation using cerebrospinal (CSF), PET (Positron Emission Tomography), and postmortem studies.

Design And Methods: A comprehensive search of electronic databases was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) for AUD-related terms in combination with neuroinflammatory markers and cytokine- and chemokine-related terms for CSF, PET, and postmortem studies.

Epidemiology and renal injury following 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) poisoning.

2-Methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) is a widely used chlorophenoxy herbicide. MCPA poisoning causes mitochondrial dysfunction, which can lead to kidney injury and death. The objective of this study is to describe the epidemiology, case fatality and extent of renal injury in a large cohort of MCPA self-poisonings.

Beliefs and attitudes of drug and alcohol clinicians when considering referral of Aboriginal clients to involuntary drug and alcohol treatment: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Involuntary drug and alcohol treatment occurs in many countries and its role is often controversial. This can be a particular concern in relation to First Nations or other culturally distinct populations. This study explores beliefs and attitudes of drug and alcohol clinicians when considering referral of Aboriginal Australians to involuntary drug and alcohol treatment in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Self-determination by First Nations Australians in alcohol policy: Lessons from Mbantua/Alice Springs (Northern Territory, Australia).

Background: First Nations Australians have an internationally-recognised right to self-determination - a key social determinant of health. The recognition and application of this right varies within different regions and policy contexts but is currently unknown for First Nations Australians' engagement in alcohol policy development. This study seeks to: explore First Nations Australians' experiences of alcohol policy in Central Australia (Northern Territory); and identify how First Nations Australians' right to self-determination can be recognised and applied in the development of alcohol policy in Mbantua/Alice Springs.

Opioid prescribing in general practice: an Australian cross-sectional survey.

Background: Prescribed opioid doses > 100 mg oral morphine equivalent (OME) and/or co-prescribing of sedating psychoactive medications increase the risk of unintentional fatal overdose. We describe general practice encounters where opioids are prescribed and examine high-risk opioid prescribing.

Methods: The 2006-2016 BEACH study data, a rolling national cross-sectional survey of randomly selected GPs, was analysed.