Improving Remote Breathalyzer Procedures used by Clinicians and Researchers to Remotely Monitor Alcohol Use

This project is a 4 week procedure where participants are asked to blow into a breathalyzer 4 times a day while also wearing an ankle alcohol monitoring device. Remote breath alcohol monitors have been increasingly adopted for use in clinical, research and forensic settings to monitor alcohol use, offering several key advantages over other available monitoring methods. However, it remains unknown if remote breathalyzers reliably detect alcohol use because there is up to a 10-hour window of time when breath samples are not obtained (to allow for sleeping). Additionally, we will examine whether a supplemental measurement of a blood alcohol use biomarker (phosphatidylethanol) can confirm abstinence and/or detect individuals' alcohol use.

Phosphatidylethanol and Other Ethanol Consumption Markers

In this study, participants consume a dose of alcohol in a controlled environment. Blood samples are collected repeatedly during a period of about 6 hours to characterize blood alcohol concentration and Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) syntheses. Then, participants are asked to remain abstinent from alcohol outside of the lab for a 10-day period. Alcohol-free blood will be collected during this time and used to characterize key biological variables  involved in PEth synthesis and elimination. These variables will be evaluated for their ability to explain the previously unexplained differences in PEth levels formed after the same amount of alcohol is consumed between individuals. We will also evaluate the value of using these biological/enzyme variables to improve (above and beyond that of PEth alone) the prediction of naturalistic drinking self-reported by participants over a 28-day period.