Genetic Ancestry, Race, and Severity of Acutely Decompensated Cirrhosis in Latin America.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Genetic ancestry or racial differences in health outcomes exist in diseases associated with systemic inflammation (eg, COVID-19). This study aimed to investigate the association of genetic ancestry and race with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), which is characterized by acute systemic inflammation, multi-organ failure, and high risk of short-term death. METHODS: This prospective cohort study analyzed a comprehensive set of data, including genetic ancestry and race among several others, in 1274 patients with acutely decompensated cirrhosis who were nonelectively admitted to 44 hospitals from 7 Latin American countries. RESULTS: Three hundred ninety-five patients (31.0%) had ACLF of any grade at enrollment. Patients with ACLF had a higher median percentage of Native American genetic ancestry and lower median percentage of European ancestry than patients without ACLF (22.6% vs 12.9% and 53.4% vs 59.6%, respectively). The median percentage of African genetic ancestry was low among patients with ACLF and among those without ACLF. In terms of race, a higher percentage of patients with ACLF than patients without ACLF were Native American and a lower percentage of patients with ACLF than patients without ACLF were European American or African American. In multivariable analyses that adjusted for differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, the odds ratio for ACLF at enrollment was 1.08 (95% CI, 1.03-1.13) with Native American genetic ancestry and 2.57 (95% CI, 1.84-3.58) for Native American race vs European American race CONCLUSIONS: In a large cohort of Latin American patients with acutely decompensated cirrhosis, increasing percentages of Native American ancestry and Native American race were factors independently associated with ACLF at enrollment.

Dental and Periodontal Conditions in Alcoholics from a Brazilian Recovery Centera

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to evaluate the dental and periodontal condition of alcohol-dependents from a Brazilian Recovery Center. Sixty male individuals (30 alcoholic and 30 non-alcoholic) and aged between 32 and 72 years old were clinically evaluated. Interviews, dental and periodontal clinical examinations were obtained from all participants. The Pearson Chi-Square Test and Exact Fisher test were used to compare categorical data. The t-Student's test was adopted for non-categorical data. Multiple logistic regressions were used to evaluate the association of variables in the groups. The alcoholics were younger, consumed more tobacco, had lower frequency of tooth brushing and dental flossing, higher number of missing and decayed teeth, more residual root, and more teeth with presence of visible plaque index (OR = 0.5, 95 % Cl = 4.4 to 5.5), when compared to the non-alcoholics. Alcoholics at the Recovery Center performed poor oral hygiene, had higher number of sites with periodontal disease, and worse oral hygiene than non-alcoholic individuals. As regards professional follow-up, there was similarity between the groups evaluated.

RESUMEN: El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar las condiciones dentales y periodontales de los alcohólicos de un Centro de Recuperación de Brasil. Sesenta hombres (30 alcohólicos y 30 no alcohólicos) y con edades comprendidas entre 32 y 72 años fueron evaluados clínicamente. Se obtuvieron entrevistas, exámenes clínicos dentales y periodontales de todos los participantes. La prueba de Chi-cuadrado de Pearson y la prueba exacta de Fisher se utilizaron para comparar datos categóricos. La prueba de t-Student se adoptó para datos no categóricos. Se utilizaron regresiones logísticas múltiples para evaluar la asociación de variables en los grupos. Los alcohólicos eran más jóvenes, consumían más tabaco, tenían menor frecuencia de cepillado dental y uso de hilo dental, mayor número de dientes perdidos y cariados, más raíz residual y más dientes con presencia de índice de placa visible (OR = 0,5, 95 % Cl = 4,4 a 5,5), en comparación con los no alcohólicos. Los alcohólicos en el Centro de Recuperación realizan una mala higiene bucal, tenían un mayor número de sitios con enfermedad periodontal y una peor higiene bucal que los no alcohólicos. En cuanto al seguimiento profesional, hubo similitud entre los grupos evaluados.

Peripheral blood CD4+/CD25+ regulatory T cells in alcoholic patients with Strongyloides stercoralis infection.

An increased number of regulatory T (Treg) cells has been reported in patients with HTLV-1 and Strongyloides stercoralis co-infection, suggesting the contribution of these cells to worm survival. As Strongyloides infections have been found to be highly prevalent in chronic alcoholics, we investigated the effect of abusive ethanol ingestion on the induction of Treg cells in alcoholic patients with Strongyloides infection. Treg cells were assessed by flow cytometry in the peripheral blood of 12 healthy non-alcoholic (control) and 14 alcoholic patients (alcoholic) without Strongyloides infection and five non-alcoholics (controlSs) and five chronic alcoholics (alcoholSs) with Strongyloides infection. The results showed significantly higher frequencies of Treg cells in the alcoholic, controlSs and alcoholSs group patients than in the control group patients. However, the frequencies of Treg cells did not differ between the alcoholSs and controlSs groups. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that ethanol consumption induced an increase in the number of circulating Treg cells in chronic alcoholics in this study but was unable to potentiate the induction of these cells in alcoholics with Strongyloides infection.

Auditory event-related potentials (P3) and cognitive changes induced by frontal direct current stimulation in alcoholics according to Lesch alcoholism typology.

Frontal lobe dysfunction is a hallmark of alcohol dependence. Recent studies have shown that a simple but powerful technique of cortical modulation--transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)--can induce significant cognitive changes. We therefore aimed to assess the clinical and electrophysiological (as indexed by P3) effects of tDCS of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in different types of alcoholic patients according to Lesch's typology. We enrolled 49 alcoholic subjects, aged between 18 and 75 yr, during the subacute abstinence period to participate in this study. Subjects underwent event-related potential (ERP) registration of alcohol-related and neutral sounds before, during and after active tDCS (1 mA, 35 cm², during 10 min) or sham procedure in a counterbalanced and randomized order. Frontal assessment battery (FAB) and five items of the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale were applied at the beginning and at the end of each experimental session. ERP analysis showed an increase in the mean amplitude of P3 associated with alcohol-related sounds after tDCS. This effect was not seen for neutral sounds. This change was more pronounced in Lesch IV alcoholics. Secondary exploratory analysis showed a significant improvement of FAB performance after active tDCS compared to sham tDCS in Lesch IV alcoholics only. We showed clinical and electrophysiological evidence of tDCS-induced frontal activity enhancement that was specific for Lesch IV alcoholics. Given that frontal dysfunction may contribute to the loss of control over drinking behaviour, local increase in frontal activity induced by tDCS might have a beneficial clinical impact in the future.

Alcoholism and Strongyloides stercoralis: daily ethanol ingestion has a positive correlation with the frequency of Strongyloides larvae in the stools.

BACKGROUND: Significantly higher prevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis has been reported in chronic alcoholic patients. The aim of this investigation was to report the prevalence of Strongyloides larvae in stools of chronic alcoholic patients with known daily ethanol intake. METHODS: From January 2001 through December 2003 the results of fecal examinations and the daily ethanol intake were retrieved from the records of 263 chronic alcoholic and from 590 non-alcoholic male patients that sought health care at the outpatients unit of the University Hospital C A Moraes. Alcoholic patients were separated into four groups, with 150g intervals between the groups according to the daily ethanol intake. RESULTS: (a) The frequency of Strongyloides was significantly higher in alcoholic patients than in control group (overall prevalence in alcoholic 20.5% versus 4.4% in control group; p = 0.001). Even in the group with a daily intake of ethanol equal to or less than 150g the prevalence was higher than in control group, although non significant (9.5%, versus 4.4% in control group; p = 0,071); (b) the prevalence of Strongyloides in alcoholic patients rises with the increase of ethanol intake (Pearson's Correlation Coefficient = 0.956; p = 0.022), even in patients without liver cirrhosis (Pearson's Correlation Coefficient = 0.927; p = 0.037). CONCLUSION: These results confirm and reinforce the hypothesis that chronic alcoholism is associated with Strongyloides infection, which is in direct relationship with the severity of alcoholism, independently of the presence of liver cirrhosis.