Check out the current issue of URBAN ARCH News, the quarterly newsletter bringing you news on the latest URBAN ARCH and related research.

The PERC Study

In this edition of the URBAN ARCH Newsletter, we highlight the recently funded Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) Results Communication (PERC) Study.

Updates from 2nd Generation URBAN ARCH HIV/Alcohol P01s

                    

International URBAN ARCH Center Updates

Click on the buttons below to see what the International URBAN ARCH Center Cores and Projects have been working on.

Spotlight on… Yona Mbalibulha

In this issue, we learn more about Yona Mbalibulha, laboratory manager for the TALC and TRAC studies and Principal Medical Laboratory Technologist at the Mbarara University Clinical and Research Laboratory.

 

Article Spotlight

Alcohol Biomarker More Likely to Identify Liver Fibrosis Risk than Self-reported Alcohol Use Measures

URBAN ARCH researchers examined whether blood concentrations of the alcohol biomarker phosphatidylethanol (PEth) were associated with liver fibrosis risk (assessed via FIB-4 measurements), compared with self-reported alcohol use (assessed via AUDIT-C), among 4644 adults with and without HIV. Individual-level data were extracted from 12 studies in the US, Russia, Uganda, and South Africa.

  • The median age across the studies was 49 years; 21 percent were female, and 76 percent had HIV (of these participants, 68 percent were virologically suppressed).
  • The median PEth was 13 ng/mL; the median AUDIT-C was 3; 12 percent of the cohort had high FIB-4 (i.e., ≥2.67).
  • The adjusted odds ratios per 83.3 ng/mL difference in PEth and one-unit difference in AUDIT-C in people with high FIB-4 were 1.15 and 1.03, respectively.

Comments: This study found that blood concentrations of the alcohol metabolite PEth were independently associated with high FIB-4, with greater odds of association than measures of self-reported alcohol use. The use of subjective biomarker measures may be useful for improving the identification of unhealthy alcohol use and associated liver fibrosis risk.

Reference: Murnane PM, Afshar M, Chamie G, et al. Using phosphatidylethanol as an adjunct to self-reported alcohol use improves identification of liver fibrosis risk. Am J Gastroenterol. 2024 [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000003178.

Latest News

Join us on Wednesday, February 26 at 11am ET / 10am CT / 8am PT to hear Drs. Sylvie Naar and Karen MacDonell present progress and emerging results from the Self-Management of HIV and Alcohol Reaching Emerging Adults (SHARE) P01 program. Register here.

Congratulations to Dr. Kaku So-Armah, Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Project Lead for the TALC study, for receiving a Providence/Boston CFAR-CCERC 2024 Community Engagement Award! Dr. So-Armah is a recipient of the Vicki Godleski Award, which recognizes an individual who has used innovative concepts to include community members in their research from inception of research proposals to dissemination of research findings.

New URBAN ARCH Publications

Events and Conferences

    Upcoming conference abstract submission deadlines: International AIDS Society (January 22, 2025); Research Society on Alcoholism (January 31, 2025)

    Click here for more events and conferences.

    Happy Holidays from URBAN ARCH!