Does Alcohol Withdrawal Influence Arterial Stiffness and Classical Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease for Persons With Alcohol Use Disorder?

AIMS: The amount and pattern of cigarette and alcohol consumption are highly associated with cardiovascular risk. The aim of the present study was the assessment of changes in arterial stiffness and classical risk factors for cardiovascular disease after alcohol withdrawal and detoxification in persons with alcohol use disorder. METHODS: Two hundred and forty-one individuals (men and women) participated in the investigation. The photoplethysmographic method was applied to assess arterial stiffness in three stages within 6 weeks. Participants were divided into subgroups based on age and sex. Analyses were performed using analysis of variance with repeated measures. RESULTS: Different variations in time of stiffness index (SI) and reflection index (RI) values were recorded. Some increases in triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and a decrease in high-density lipoproteins were observed in all analyzed groups. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (DP) changed significantly during the 3 weeks of the study only in a group of younger men. The SI is correlated with age and gender. No correlation of RI with sex was found; however, RI was strongly correlated with age, pulse and DP. CONCLUSIONS: The presented study shows that some groups of patients (older women and younger men) after detoxification may be particularly vulnerable to vascular system disorders, i.e. arterial stiffness, making it suggested to include additional observation during therapy.

Cessation of alcohol consumption decreases rate of nicotine metabolism in male alcohol-dependent smokers.

BACKGROUND: Rate of nicotine metabolism is an important factor influencing cigarette smoking behavior, dependence, and efficacy of nicotine replacement therapy. The current study examined the hypothesis that chronic alcohol abuse can accelerate the rate of nicotine metabolism. Nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR, a biomarker for rate of nicotine metabolism) and patterns of nicotine metabolites were assessed at three time points after alcohol cessation. METHODS: Participants were 22 Caucasian men randomly selected from a sample of 165 smokers entering a 7-week alcohol dependence treatment program in Poland. Data were collected at three time points: baseline (week 1, after acute alcohol detoxification), week 4, and week 7. Urine was analyzed for nicotine and metabolites and used to determine the nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR, a biomarker for rate of nicotine metabolism), and total nicotine equivalents (TNE, a biomarker for total daily nicotine exposure). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant decrease in urine NMR over the 7 weeks after alcohol abstinence (F(2,42)=18.83, p<0.001), indicating a decrease in rate of nicotine metabolism. On average NMR decreased 50.0% from baseline to week 7 (9.6±1.3 vs 4.1±0.6). There was no change in urine TNE across the three sessions, indicating no change daily nicotine intake. The results support the idea that chronic alcohol abuse may increase the rate of nicotine metabolism, which then decreases over time after alcohol cessation. This information may help to inform future smoking cessation interventions in this population.

[Plasma lipid concentration in smoking and nonsmoking male adults treated from alcohol addiction]. / Zmiany profilu lipidowego w osoczu mezczyzn o róznym statusie palenia tytoniu leczonych z powodu uzaleznienia od alkoholu.

Alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking affect plasma lipid levels and are both independent risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. Alcohol and nicotine addictions are more common among man than women in Poland. The aim of the study was to evaluate changes in plasma lipid levels after cessation of heavy drinking in smoking and nonsmoking Polish male adults. Subjects were recruited from individuals who participated in an inpatient addiction program following alcohol detoxification. We recruited 119 male adults: 48 non-smokers in age between 31 and 60 years (mean 48.7 +/- 8.8) and 71 smokers in age between 30 and 60 years (mean 46.1 +/- 7.8). Each subjects provided three blood samples: at baseline, after 3 weeks, and after 6 weeks of treatment. Plasma samples were analyzed for lipids by manual precipitation and automatic enzymatic methods. Changes in plasma lipid concentrations were analyzed using two-way analysis of variances with repeated measures with smoking status as between subjects factor and time post alcohol cessation as within-subject factors. All analyses were adjusted for age, and BMI. We found that plasma levels of HDL decreased in smoking and nonsmoking subjects by 30% and 24%, respectively (p < 0.001). In smoking subjects, plasma levels of triglycerides and LDL increased significantly after 6 weeks post cessation of heavy drinking cessation by 17% and 16%, respectively (p = 0.001). We also found that total cholesterol levels remained high in smoking subjects, but decreased significantly by 7% (p = 0.022) in nonsmoking subjects after 6 weeks post cessation of heavy drinking. We concluded that cigarette smoking increased LDL and inhibited the decline in plasma cholesterol among subjects addicted to alcohol following cessation of heavy drinking. Alcohol addiction therapy should be complemented with smoking cessation to prevent increase in cardiovascular risk.

[Plasma fibrinogen concentration in smoking and nonsmoking patients treated from alcohol addiction]. / Zmiany stezenia fibrynogenu w osoczu pacjentów o róznym statusie palenia tytoniu leczonych z powodu uzaleznienia od alkoholu.

Cigarette smoking is common among persons addicted to alcohol. Both tobacco smoking and alcohol binge drinking are risk factors of many cardiovascular conditions. The risk of cardiovascular events decreases after alcohol cessation. However little is known about the effect of continues smoking on biomarkers of adverse cardiovascular events among patients treated from alcohol addiction. The aim of the study was to assess fibrinogen changes after alcohol drinking cessation among cigarette smokers and non-smokers. Total of 239 patients treated from alcohol addiction in Addiction Treatment Center (OTU) Parzymiechy, Poland were included in the study. There were total of 39 women: 11 non-smoking women, in the age range of between 31 and 59 years (mean age 47 +/- 9 years) and 28 smoking women in the age range of 31-60 years (mean age 43 +/- 8 years). Among 200 men, there were 150 smokers in the age range of between 30 and 60 years (mean age 44 +/- 8 years) and 50 non-smokers in the age range of 31 and 60 years (mean age 49 +/- 9 years). We found that among non-smoking patients fibrinogen levels remained unchanged three weeks post alcohol cessation (3.42 vs. 3.49 g/l) but after six weeks significantly decreased to the level of 3.09 g/l (p=0.00085). Among smoking patients fibrinogen levels increased after three weeks post alcohol cessation by 7.9% (z 3.41 do 3.68 g/l) and went back to a baseline level of 3.50 g/l. However those changes were not statistically significant. We found that alcohol cessation leads to decrease of fibrinogen levels only among non-smoking patients post alcohol cessation. A risk of cardiovascular diseases seemed to remain elevated among smokers treated from alcohol addiction. There is need for concomitant treatment of tobacco addiction among smoking alcoholics.