Ethanol consumption produces a small increase in circulating miR-122 in healthy individuals.

INTRODUCTION: MicroRNA 122 (miR-122) is a new circulating biomarker for liver injury, which increases earlier than conventional markers in patients with acetaminophen hepatotoxicity. However, as co-ingestion of ethanol is common with drug overdose, a confounding effect of acute ethanol consumption on serum miR-122 must be examined. METHODS: Blood was collected from healthy volunteers before and after recreational consumption of ethanol. Routine biochemistry and haematology measurements were performed, and serum miR-122 was measured by qPCR. The primary outcome was the difference in serum miR-122 with ethanol consumption. RESULTS: We recruited 18 participants (72% male). Their mean serum ethanol concentration was 113 mg/dl (95% confidence interval [CI] 91-135 mg/dl) after consuming ethanol. Serum miR-122 increased from a mean of 71.3 million (95% CI 29.3-113.2 million) to 139.1 million (95% CI 62.6-215.7 million) copies/ml (2.2-fold increase). There was no significant difference in serum alanine aminotransferase activity before and after ethanol consumption. CONCLUSION: miR-122 increased with moderate ethanol consumption, but the fold change was modest. As increases with acetaminophen toxicity are 100- to 10 000-fold, moderate ethanol intoxication is unlikely to confound the use of this biomarker of hepatotoxicity.

The eldercare factory.

Rapid advances in service robotics together with dramatic shifts in population demographics have led to the notion that technology may be the answer to our eldercare problems. Robots are being developed for feeding, washing, lifting, carrying and mobilising the elderly as well as monitoring their health. They are also being proposed as a substitute for companionship. While these technologies could accrue major benefits for society and empower the elderly, we must balance their use with the ethical costs. These include a potential reduction in human contact, increased feeling of objectification and loss of control, loss of privacy and personal freedom as well as deception and infantilisation. With appropriate guidelines in place before the introduction of robots en masse into the care system, robots could improve the lives of the elderly, reducing their dependence and creating more opportunities for social interaction. Without forethought, the elderly may find themselves in a barren world of machines, a world of automated care: a factory for the elderly.