Alcohol intake, circadian blood pressure variation, and stroke

Circadian variations in the occurrence of first-ever intracerebral hemorrhage from different sources of income: a hospital-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The onset time of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) may be closely related to the working style and living habits of people, which are determined by different income sources in China. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate the Circadian Variations in the occurrence of ICH from different sources of income.

METHODS

This retrospective study enrolled 4,327 patients with first-ever ICH. Based on the time of day at which the patients developed symptoms, the classifiable onset time was assigned to one of eight three-hour intervals. And based on different income sources, they were categorized into three groups: Farmers, Wage-earners, and Freelancers. Demographic and risk factors of patients were then summarized, and the circadian variation of the 3 groups of patients' known time of onset and those stratified by sex and age were analyzed.

RESULTS

The frequency of ICH onset exhibited significant circadian variation among the 3 income groups, demonstrating a bimodal distribution in the daytime, with a nadir during the night (all P < 0.001). Three groups showed a significant initial peak between 06:01 and 09:00, and the same peak was observed in their subgroups of sex and age. In the 3 income source groups, there was a smaller second peak that between 15:01 and 18:00 for Farmers and Wage-earners and 18:01 and 21:00 for Freelancers. After stratification by sex and age, the second peak was between 18:01 and 21:00 for female in Farmers, female in Freelancers, under 65 years of age in Wage-earners and 65 years or older in Freelancers, while 15:01 and 18:00 for the other groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Different circadian variations of ICH onset time are found in patients with different income sources in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality cohort. Moreover, the frequency and distribution pattern of peak hours may be closely related to the working style and living habits of people with different income sources.

Diosmin protects against ethanol-induced hepatic injury via alleviation of inflammation and regulation of TNF-α and NF-κB activation

The present investigation was designed to evaluate the efficacy of diosmin against ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats by modulating various mechanisms including ethanol metabolizing enzymes, generation of free radicals, imbalance in oxidant-antioxidant status, oxidative damage to membrane lipids, activation of transcription factors and elevation in inflammatory markers involved in ethanol-induced hepatic damage. Diosmin is a flavone glycoside, having anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Thirty female Wistar rats segregated in five groups, each with six animals. Group I as control followed by Group II, III and IV were treated with ethanol for 28 days. While groups III and IV were administered with diosmin at 10 mg/kg b wt (D1) and 20 mg/kg b wt (D2) respectively prior to ethanol administration. Group V was given only higher dose of diosmin. In ethanol-treated group, ethanol metabolizing enzymes viz., CYP 450 2E1 and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) significantly increased by 77.82% and 32.32% in liver tissues respectively as compared with control group and this enhancement is significantly normalized with diosmin administration. Diosmin administration (D1 & D2) significantly (p < 0.001) attenuates oxidative stress markers i.e., LPO, GSH, GPx, GR and XO by 90.77 & 137.55%, 17.18 & 25%, 37.3 & 49.86%, 21.63 & 44.9% and 56.14 &77.19% respectively. Serum ALT, AST and LDH significantly increased by 102.03, 116.91 and 45.20% in ethanol-treated group as compared with control group. Group III and IV animals showed significant reduction in the serum toxicity markers. Diosmin further alleviated ethanol-induced NF-κB activation, enhanced expression of TNF-α, COX-2 and iNOS. Findings from the present study permit us to conclude that diosmin alleviates alcoholic liver injury via modulating ethanol metabolizing pathway, inhibition of oxidative stress markers and suppression of inflammatory markers. This may represent a novel protective strategy against ethanol-induced liver diseases.

Cellular and mitochondrial effects of alcohol consumption

Alcohol dependence is correlated with a wide spectrum of medical, psychological, behavioral, and social problems. Acute alcohol abuse causes damage to and functional impairment of several organs affecting protein, carbohydrate, and fat metabolism. Mitochondria participate with the conversion of acetaldehyde into acetate and the generation of increased amounts of NADH. Prenatal exposure to ethanol during fetal development induces a wide spectrum of adverse effects in offspring, such as neurologic abnormalities and pre- and post-natal growth retardation. Antioxidant effects have been described due to that alcoholic beverages contain different compounds, such as polyphenols as well as resveratrol. This review analyzes diverse topics on the alcohol consumption effects in several human organs and demonstrates the direct participation of mitochondria as potential target of compounds that can be used to prevent therapies for alcohol abusers.

Period 2 gene deletion abolishes beta-endorphin neuronal response to ethanol

BACKGROUND

Ethanol exposure during early life has been shown to permanently alter the circadian expression of clock regulatory genes and the beta-endorphin precursor proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene in the hypothalamus. Ethanol also alters the stress- and immune-regulatory functions of beta-endorphin neurons in laboratory rodents. Our aim was to determine whether the circadian clock regulatory Per2 gene modulates the action of ethanol on beta-endorphin neurons in mice.

METHODS

Per2 mutant (mPer2(Brdml)) and wild type (C57BL/6J) mice were used to determine the effect of Per2 mutation on ethanol-regulated beta-endorphin neuronal activity during neonatal period using an in vitro mediobasal hypothalamic (MBH) cell culture model and an in vivo milk formula feeding animal model. The beta-endorphin neuronal activity following acute and chronic ethanol treatments was evaluated by measuring the peptide released from cultured cells or peptide levels in the MBH tissues, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

Per2 mutant mice showed a higher basal level of beta-endorphin release from cultured MBH cells and a moderate increase in the peptide content in the MBH in comparison with control mice. However, unlike wild type mice, Per2 mutant mice showed no stimulatory or inhibitory beta-endorphin-secretory responses to acute and chronic ethanol challenges in vitro. Furthermore, Per2 mutant mice, but not wild type mice, failed to show the stimulatory and inhibitory responses of MBH beta-endorphin levels to acute and chronic ethanol challenges in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest for the first time that the Per2 gene may be critically involved in regulating beta-endorphin neuronal function. Furthermore, the data revealed an involvement of the Per2 gene in regulating beta-endorphin neuronal responses to ethanol.

Alcohol and acetaldehyde in public health: from marvel to menace

Alcohol abuse is a serious medical and social problem. Although light to moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial to cardiovascular health, heavy drinking often results in organ damage and social problems. In addition, genetic susceptibility to the effect of alcohol on cancer and coronary heart disease differs across the population. A number of mechanisms including direct the toxicity of ethanol, its metabolites [e.g., acetaldehyde and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs)] and oxidative stress may mediate alcoholic complications. Acetaldehyde, the primary metabolic product of ethanol, is an important candidate toxin in developing alcoholic diseases. Meanwhile, free radicals produced during ethanol metabolism and FAEEs are also important triggers for alcoholic damages.