Inquiry and Scholarship

A UB study provides the most comprehensive look to date at drinking patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with four mental health disorders in the U.S. Study first author Yihua Yue, an epidemiology and environmental health PhD student, looked at alcohol consumption among more than 3,600 U.S. residents, and examined associations between drinking patterns and anxiety, depression, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder. Increased alcohol use and binge drinking were associated with higher odds of mental health disorders, highlighting the relationship between over-consuming alcohol and mental health problems as a public health concern and negative COVID-19 impact. Published in Alcohol and Alcoholism.

Kaelyn Burns, PhD candidate in epidemiology and environmental health, is principal investigator and trainee on a highly prestigious F-31 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/National Institutes of Health for a study she will lead. Burns explains her study’s aims: “Choline is a nutrient found in high amounts in foods like red meat, fish and eggs. After consuming choline, it can be metabolized by bacteria in the gut microbiome to produce a metabolite associated with cardiovascular disease, called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). Alternatively, the intake of dietary fiber can suppress the production of TMAO. The role that overall dietary intake plays in TMAO production remains unclear. In hopes of helping to clarify this, the goal of this study is to evaluate associations of an overall dietary pattern predictive of high circulating concentrations of TMAO and choline with the presence of metabolites in circulation, bacteria in the gut microbiome and a measure of vascular health.

The U.S. and Canada regulate cannabis very differently. When it comes to policies regulating cannabis advertising and marketing, the two countries are even further apart, according to a study comparing the countries’ cannabis marketing policies. Most states do not address many of the cannabis advertising activities prohibited in Canada, such as glamorization and testimonials. “While Canada has a federal Cannabis Act that provides structured guidance for those in the cannabis industry to communicate about the product in a way that protects vulnerable populations, many states in the U.S. tend to be vaguer in their policies,” says Natasha C. Allard, the paper’s lead author and a PhD student in the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior. Published in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.

Understanding factors affecting survival among women diagnosed with breast cancer is critically important, but study results of one suspected factor on death from breast cancer—dietary fat intake before a diagnosis—have been inconclusive. A new study notes that while various kinds of dietary fat—saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids—may have different biological effects, little evidence exists about the association of their intake with death after a breast cancer diagnosis. Researchers, including first author Danielle Meyer, director of SPHHP’s Undergraduate Nutrition Science Program, looked at the dietary patterns of a population of women with breast cancer in the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study. They conclude that the intake of dietary fats before a breast-cancer diagnosis was not associated with death from breast cancer (or from any cause) in that population. Published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

Rachel Hageman Blair, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Biostatistics, is the principal investigator for a new study aimed at discovering the biological basis for the risk of opioid overdose and to discover safe and effective new ways to reverse the effects of overdose. The overall objective of the study, “Genetic Variation in Opiate Induced Respiratory Depression in Mice,” is to define the molecular mechanisms that underlie the difference in breathing rates of people who have taken opioids. The results will help explain why the breathing rates of certain people are more sensitive to opioids as well as to suggest alternatives to naloxone, a commonly used overdose treatment. Funder: Jackson Laboratory/National Institutes of Health

Women with high blood pressure during pregnancy are at higher risk throughout their lives for negative cardiovascular health, especially women who experience health disparities. A study in which UB is a partner is trying to improve outcomes among postpartum, at-risk women by growing awareness, detection and timely care of postpartum high blood pressure, mental health and cardiovascular complications. The study has enrolled 6,000 women at Kaleida Health’s John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, Yale New Haven Hospital and UMass Medical Center. The project is funded through a $18.8 million grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute; UB is receiving $3.7 million. Pauline Mendola, PhD, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, and Thaddeus Waters, MD, chief of maternal-fetal medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, are principal investigators on UB’s portion of the study. The study is led by the Yale School of Public Health.

Does a Tanzanian cash transfer program combined with complementary programming (“cash plus”) keep adolescent girls from exchanging sex for material support for basic needs, social status or other benefits? Such “transactional” sex is associated with an increased risk of HIV infection in adolescent girls and young women in the region, so the answer is meaningful. A study led by doctoral student Sarah Quinones and Associate Professor Tia Palermo, PhD, in collaboration with UNICEF and researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, found the risk of engaging in transactional sex increases with age, but increased educational attainment and staying in school is protective. However, the cash plus intervention had no impact on reducing transactional sex. The study concludes determinants of transactional sex are complex, but economic insecurity is an important driver for transactional sex and HIV infection. Interventions addressing such drivers of HIV infection should link sectoral programming and focus on efforts to increase school enrollment and completion. Published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society.