{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:17:46Z","timestamp":1760235466633,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,1]],"date-time":"2021-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1630454400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Smoke Free World","award":["SFW-001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SFW-001"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Epigenomes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Alcohol and tobacco use are highly comorbid and exacerbate the associated morbidity and mortality of either substance alone. However, the relationship of alcohol consumption to the various forms of nicotine-containing products is not well understood. To improve this understanding, we examined the relationship of alcohol consumption to nicotine product use using self-report, cotinine, and two epigenetic biomarkers specific for smoking (cg05575921) and drinking (Alcohol T Scores (ATS)) in n = 424 subjects. Cigarette users had significantly higher ATS values than the other groups (p &lt; 2.2 \u00d7 10\u221216). Using the objective biomarkers, the intensity of nicotine and alcohol consumption was correlated in both the cigarette and smokeless users (R = \u22120.66, p = 3.1 \u00d7 10\u221214; R2 = 0.61, p = 1.97 \u00d7 10\u22124). Building upon this idea, we used the objective nicotine biomarkers and age to build and test a Balanced Random Forest classification model for heavy alcohol consumption (ATS &gt; 2.35). The model performed well with an AUC of 0.962, 89.3% sensitivity, and 85% specificity. We conclude that those who use non-combustible nicotine products drink significantly less than smokers, and cigarette and smokeless users drink more with heavier nicotine use. These findings further highlight the lack of informativeness of self-reported alcohol consumption and suggest given the public and private health burden of alcoholism, further research into whether using non-combustible nicotine products as a mode of treatment for dual users should be considered.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/epigenomes5030018","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,1]],"date-time":"2021-09-01T11:39:03Z","timestamp":1630496343000},"page":"18","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Epigenetic Analyses of Alcohol Consumption in Combustible and Non-Combustible Nicotine Product Users"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4112-2760","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kelsey","family":"Dawes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA"},{"name":"Behavioral Diagnostics LLC, Coralville, IA 52241, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luke","family":"Sampson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rachel","family":"Reimer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Public Health, Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA 50312, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shelly","family":"Miller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Behavioral Diagnostics LLC, Coralville, IA 52241, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7822-4977","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Robert","family":"Philibert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA"},{"name":"Behavioral Diagnostics LLC, Coralville, IA 52241, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7006-7639","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Allan","family":"Andersen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"6502","article-title":"Smoking and drinking in relation to cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus in northern Italy","volume":"50","author":"Franceschi","year":"1990","journal-title":"Cancer Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00053170","article-title":"Tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and risk of oral cancer: A case-control study in Beijing, People\u2019s Republic of China","volume":"1","author":"Zheng","year":"1990","journal-title":"Cancer Causes Control."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Boyle, P., Gray, N., Henningfield, J., and Seffrin, J. 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