Associations of alcohol consumption and alcohol flush reaction with leukocyte telomere length in Korean adults.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Telomere length is a useful biomarker for determining general aging status. Some studies have reported an association between alcohol consumption and telomere length in a general population; however, it is unclear whether the alcohol flush reaction, which is an alcohol-related trait predominantly due to acetaldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency, is associated with telomere length. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the associations of alcohol consumption and alcohol flush reaction with leukocyte telomere length (LTL). SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study included 1,803 Korean adults. Participants provided blood specimens for LTL measurement assay and reported their alcohol drinking status and the presence of an alcohol flush reaction via a questionnaire-based interview. Relative LTL was determined by using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Statistical analysis used multiple linear regression models stratified by sex and age groups, and potential confounding factors were considered. RESULTS: Age-specific analyses showed that heavy alcohol consumption (> 30 g/day) was strongly associated with a reduced LTL in participants aged ≥ 65 years (P < 0.001) but not in younger participants. Similarly, the alcohol flush reaction was associated with a reduced LTL only in older participants who consumed > 15 g/day of alcohol (P < 0.01). No significant alcohol consumption or alcohol flush reaction associations with LTL were observed in the sex-specific analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that older alcohol drinkers, particularly those with the alcohol flush reaction, may have an accelerated aging process.

Associations between Lifestyle Factors and Iron Overload in Korean Adults.

It has been suggested that iron overload, which indicates the accumulation of iron, generates cellular reactive oxygens and causes peroxide damages to the body. Such oxidative stresses, in a broader context, are also caused by lifestyles such as alcohol consumption and smoking. However, there are limited data on the association between these lifestyle factors and internal iron overload. In present study, we evaluated associations between lifestyle factors, such as smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity, and serum markers of iron overload. In a population-based cross-sectional study including 2,347 Korean men and women aged 49-79 years, we assessed serum transferrin saturation (TSAT) levels and defined iron overload as TSAT levels > 50% for men and > 45% for women. After excluding persons with chronic diseases and iron deficiency, multivariate odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated to evaluate associations between lifestyle factors and iron overload in 1,973 participants. In all participants, we examined a significantly positive association between heavy alcohol consumption (> 30 g/day) and iron overload; heavy drinkers showed 1.6-fold higher OR (95% CI, 1.11-2.36) than non-drinkers. Stratified analysis by sex showed that this association was significant only among men. In addition, we observed a potential association between heavy smoking > 10 cigarettes/day and iron overload (p = 0.07). In stratified analysis by sex, we examined a significant association between smoking and iron overload only among women; former or current smokers had 1.9-fold higher OR (95% CI, 1.01-3.63) than never-smoker. Our findings suggest that heavy alcohol consumption and smoking may worsen iron accumulation in the body.

Dental Hetero-Graft Materials with Nano Hydroxyapatite Surface Treatment.

We report the development of hydroxyapatite nanoparticle (HAp NP)-functionalized hetero-graft materials (HGMs) for dental applications. These HGMs were prepared by attaching platelet-, needle-, and sphere-shaped HAp NPs to the surface of xenograft materials through chemical conjugation. Although all three HAp NPs contributed to increase the surface area of bone graft material (BGM), the shape of the HAp NPs was a determining factor. Platelet HAp NPs were most effective, because they caused a 48.9% increase in BGM surface area whereas the influence of the spherical NP was only a 6.7% increase. This suggests that geometric factors regarding both the attached HAp NPs and graft material surface are essential in controlling the surface roughness of graft materials. Among the three HAp NPs, it was the platelet HAp NPs that helped to increase the efficacy of the BGM most significantly. Compared with BGM with no HAp NP attachment, HGM with platelet HAp NP ('platelet-HGM) treatment had ~46.1% higher cell attachment and proliferation rate. The MTT assay also showed that the HAp NP-treated hetero-graft materials had negligible cytotoxicity.