Rapid Improvement in Health-Related Quality of Life in Gouty Arthritis Patients Treated with Canakinumab (ACZ885) Compared to Triamcinolone Acetonide

Background: Gout patients initiating urate lowering therapy have an increased risk of flares. Inflammation in gouty arthritis is induced by interleukin (IL)-1b. Canakinumab inhibits IL-1b effectively in clinical studies. This study compared different doses of canakinumab vs colchicine in preventing flares in gout patients initiating allopurinol therapy.Methods: In this 24 wk double blind study, gout patients (20-79 years) initiating allopurinol were randomized (1:1:1:1:1:1:2) to canakinumab s.c. single doses of 25, 50, 100, 200, 300 mg, or 150mg divided in doses every 4 wks (50þ50þ25þ25mg [q4wk]) or colchicine 0.5mg p.o. daily for 16 wks. Primary outcome was to determine the canakinumab dose giving comparable efficacy to colchicine with respect to number of flares occurring during first 16 wks. Secondary outcomes included number of patients with flares and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels during the first 16 wks.Results: 432 patients were randomized and 391 (91%) completed the study. All canakinumab doses were better than colchicine in preventing flares and therefore, a canakinumab dose comparable to colchicine couldn't be determined. Based on a negative binomialmodel, all canakinumab groups, except 25 mg, reduced the flare rate ratio per patient significantly compared to colchicine group (rate ratio estimates 25mg 0.60, 50mg 0.34, 100mg 0.28, 200mg 0.37, 300mg 0.29, q4wk 0.38; p_0.05). Percentage of patients with flares was lower for all canakinumab groups (25mg 27.3%, 50mg 16.7%, 100mg 14.8%, 200mg 18.5%, 300mg 15.1%, q4wk 16.7%) compared to colchicine group (44.4%). All patients taking canakinumab were significantly less likely to experience at least one gout flare than patients taking colchicine (odds ratio range [0.22 - 0.47]; p_0.05 for all). Median baseline CRP levels were 2.86 mg/L for 25 mg, 3.42 mg/L for 50 mg, 1.76 mg/L for 100 mg, 3.66 mg/L for 200 mg, 3.21 mg/L for 300 mg, 3.23 mg/L for q4wk canakinumab groups and 2.69 mg/L for colchicine group. In all canakinumab groups with median CRP levels above the normal range at baseline, median levels declined within 15 days of treatment and were maintained at normal levels (ULN¼3 mg/L) throughout the 16 wk period. Adverse events (AEs) occurred in 52.7% (25 mg), 55.6% (50 mg), 51.9% (100 mg), 51.9% (200 mg), 54.7% (300 mg), 58.5% (q4wk) of patients on canakinumab vs 53.7% of patients on colchicine. Serious AEs (SAE) were reported in 2 (3.6%; 25 mg), 2 (3.7%, 50 mg), 3 (5.6%, 100 mg), 3 (5.6%, 200 mg), 3 (5.7%, 300 mg), 1 (1.9%, q4wk) patients on canakinumab and in 5 (4.6%) patients on colchicine. 1 fatal SAE (myocardial infarction, not related to study drug) occurred in colchicine group.Conclusions: In this randomized, double-blind active controlled study of flare prevention in gout patients initiating allopurinol therapy, treatment with canakinumab led to a statistically significant reduction in flares compared with colchicine and was well tolerated.Disclosure statement: U.A., A.B., G.K., D.R. and P.S. are employees of and have stock options or bold holdings with Novartis Pharma AG. E.M. is a principal investigator for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. E.N. has received consulting fees from Roche. N.S. has received research grants from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. A.S. has received consultancy fees from Novartis Pharma AG, Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Essex, Pfizer, MSD, Roche, UCB and Wyeth. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Procedures’ costs related to outpatient chemotherapy treatment of women suffering from breast cancer

To identify the direct cost of procedures related to an outpatient chemotherapy treatment for women with breast cancer. Method: This is a quantitative research, using the case study methodology, performed in an outpatient chemotherapy of a private hospital. The total cost was calculated by multiplying the time spent by professionals involved in therapeutic procedures, the unit cost of direct labor, adding to the cost of materials, drugs and solutions. For performing the calculations, we used the Brazilian currency (R$). Results: The average total cost per chemotherapy session corresponded to R$ 1,783.01 (100%), being R$ 1,671.66 (93,75%) spent with drugs, R$ 74,98 (4.21%) with materials, R$ 28.49 (1.60%) with labor and R$ 7.88 (0.44%) with solutions. Conclusion: The results may support discussions and decision making for the management of costs related to chemotherapy aimed at reducing expenses and eliminating waste without harm to the care provided. 


Urinary incontinence related to perineal muscle strength in the first trimester of pregnancy: cross-sectional study

Objective To analyze pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS), urinary continence and quality of life related to urinary incontinence (UI) of women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Method Cross-sectional study with a sample of 500 women who started prenatal care in a complementary healthcare facility in Guarulhos, state of São Paulo, from 2012 and 2013. Pelvic floor muscle strength was evaluated through perineometry. The pregnant women who presented UI answered the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). Results It was found that maternal age (OR=1.06; CI95% 1.02-1.11) and prior UI (OR=15.12; 95%CI 8.19-27.92) are the variables that, in tandem, best explain the occurrence of UI at the beginning of pregnancy. The mean score on the ICIQ-SF was 8.2 (SD=3.9), considered a moderate impact on quality of life. Conclusion Older pregnant women with prior UI are more likely to have UI in the first trimester of pregnancy.


Evaluation of C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 as diagnostic parameters in sepsis-related fatalities.

The aims of this study were to investigate the usefulness of serum C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 as postmortem markers of sepsis and to compare C-reactive protein and procalcitonin values in serum, vitreous humor, and cerebrospinal fluid in a series of sepsis cases and control subjects, in order to determine whether these measurements may be employed for the postmortem diagnosis of sepsis. Two study groups were formed, a sepsis group (eight subjects coming from the intensive care unit of two university hospitals, with a clinical diagnosis of sepsis in vivo) and control group (ten autopsy cases admitted to two university medicolegal centers, deceased from natural and unnatural causes, without elements to presume an underlying sepsis as the cause of death). Serum C-reactive protein and procalcitonin concentrations were significantly different between sepsis cases and control cases, whereas serum tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 values were not significantly different between the two groups, suggesting that measurement of interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and tumor necrosis factor alpha is non-optimal for postmortem discrimination of cases with sepsis. In the sepsis group, vitreous procalcitonin was detectable in seven out of eight cases. In the control group, vitreous procalcitonin was clearly detectable only in one case, which also showed an increase of all markers in serum and for which the cause of death was myocardial infarction associated with multi-organic failure. According to the results of this study, the determination of vitreous procalcitonin may be an alternative to the serum procalcitonin for the postmortem diagnosis of sepsis.

Reducing the clinical burden of ranibizumab treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration using an individually planned regimen.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to clinically validate an individually planned treatment regimen for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), termed, observe and plan. This regimen was based on the predictability of an individual's need for retreatment and aimed to reduce the clinical burden, while obtaining good functional results. METHODS: This was a prospective case series that included 104 patients (115 eyes) with treatment-naive nAMD. Following three loading doses of ranibizumab, monthly observation visits allowed the disease recurrence interval to be determined. The recurrence interval was reduced by 2 weeks to give the retreatment interval for the next three injections. Periodical control visits (at least every 6 months) allowed the effectiveness of the treatment to be assessed and individual intervals adjusted. RESULTS: Mean visual acuity (VA) improved by 8.7 and 9.8 letters in months 3 and 12, respectively. The mean number of injections during the 12-month study was 7.8, while the mean number of ophthalmic examinations between months 3 and 12 was 3.97. The mean treatment interval after the loading doses was 1.97 months. CONCLUSIONS: The observe-and-plan regimen significantly improved VA. This was obtained with fewer clinic visits compared with other regimens, which could ease the burden of nAMD treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Commission cantonale (VD) d'éthique de la recherché Clinique, Université de Lausanne, Protocole 351/11.

Variation of the Chlorophyll a Related to Sea Surface Temperature, Wind and Geostrophic Currents in the Cape Verde Region Using Satellite Data

We present a comparative analysis of satellite derived climatologies in the Cape Verde region (CV). In order to establish chlorophyll a variability, in relation to other oceanographic phenomena, a set of, relatively long (from five to eight years), time series of chlorophyll a, sea surface temperature, wind and geostrophic currents, were ensembled for the Eastern Central Atlantic (ECA). We studied seasonal and inter-annual variability of phytoplankton concentration, in relation to the rest of the variables, with a special focus in CV. We compared the situation within the archipelago with those of the surrounding marine environments, such as the North West African Upwelling (NWAU), North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (NASTG), North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) and Guinea Dome (GD). At the seasonal scale, CV region behaves partly as the surrounding areas, nevertheless, some autochthonous features were also found. The maximum peak of the pigment having a positive correlation with temperature is found at the end of the year for all the points in the archipelago; a less remarkable rise with negative correlation is also detected in February for points CV2 and CV4. This is behavior that none of the surrounding environments have shown. This enrichment was found to be preceded by a drastic drop in wind intensity (SW Monsoon) during summer months. The inter-annual analysis shows a tendency for decreasing of the chlorophyll a concentration.

Variation of the Chlorophyll a Related to Sea Surface Temperature, Wind and Geostrophic Currents in the Cape Verde Region Using Satellite Data

We present a comparative analysis of satellite derived climatologies in the Cape Verde region (CV). In order to establish chlorophyll a variability, in relation to other oceanographic phenomena, a set of, relatively long (from five to eight years), time series of chlorophyll a, sea surface temperature, wind and geostrophic currents, were ensembled for the Eastern Central Atlantic (ECA). We studied seasonal and inter-annual variability of phytoplankton concentration, in relation to the rest of the variables, with a special focus in CV. We compared the situation within the archipelago with those of the surrounding marine environments, such as the North West African Upwelling (NWAU), North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (NASTG), North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) and Guinea Dome (GD). At the seasonal scale, CV region behaves partly as the surrounding areas, nevertheless, some autochthonous features were also found. The maximum peak of the pigment having a positive correlation with temperature is found at the end of the year for all the points in the archipelago; a less remarkable rise with negative correlation is also detected in February for points CV2 and CV4. This is behavior that none of the surrounding environments have shown. This enrichment was found to be preceded by a drastic drop in wind intensity (SW Monsoon) during summer months. The inter-annual analysis shows a tendency for decreasing of the chlorophyll a concentration.

Health-Related Quality of Life in patients with hepatitis C in double and triple therapy

Abstract OBJECTIVE Comparing Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) scores in patients with chronic hepatitis C undergoing double and triple antiviral therapy and analyzing possible factors related to HRQoL. METHOD HRQoL was assessed using the Short Form 36 and Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire, which were applied at baseline and at weeks 4, 12 and 16 of treatment to 32 patients divided into two groups: double therapy with pegylated interferon (IFN-PEG) and ribavirin, and triple therapy with PEG-IFN, ribavirin and telaprevir. RESULTS The reduction of HRQoL was greater in patients receiving triple therapy compared to those treated with two drugs, the most critical time is at 12 weeks in both groups. After removal of telaprevir, the triple therapy group significantly improved their HRQoL scores. Anxiety and depression before treatment, employment status and race are significantly related to diminished HRQoL. CONCLUSION Patients undergoing double and triple therapy have diminished HRQoL indexes, but the addition of telaprevir chooses a more significant decrease.

TBS (trabecular bone score) and diabetes-related fracture risk.

CONTEXT: Type 2 diabetes is associated with increased fracture risk but paradoxically greater bone mineral density (BMD). Trabecular bone score (TBS) is derived from the texture of the spine dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) image and is related to bone microarchitecture and fracture risk, providing information independent of BMD. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the ability of lumbar spine TBS to account for increased fracture risk in diabetes. DESIGN AND SETTING: We performed a retrospective cohort study using BMD results from a large clinical registry for the province of Manitoba, Canada. Patients: We included 29,407 women 50 years old and older with baseline DXA examinations, among whom 2356 had diagnosed diabetes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Lumbar spine TBS was derived for each spine DXA examination blinded to clinical parameters and outcomes. Health service records were assessed for incident nontraumatic major osteoporotic fractures (mean follow-up 4.7 years). RESULTS: Diabetes was associated with higher BMD at all sites but lower lumbar spine TBS in unadjusted and adjusted models (all P < .001). The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for a measurement in the lowest vs the highest tertile was less than 1 for BMD (all P < .001) but was increased for lumbar spine TBS [aOR 2.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.30-2.97]. Major osteoporotic fractures were identified in 175 women (7.4%) with and 1493 (5.5%) without diabetes (P < .001). Lumbar spine TBS was a BMD-independent predictor of fracture and predicted fractures in those with diabetes (adjusted hazard ratio 1.27, 95% CI 1.10-1.46) and without diabetes (hazard ratio 1.31, 95% CI 1.24-1.38). The effect of diabetes on fracture was reduced when lumbar spine TBS was added to a prediction model but was paradoxically increased from adding BMD measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Lumbar spine TBS predicts osteoporotic fractures in those with diabetes, and captures a larger portion of the diabetes-associated fracture risk than BMD.

Age-related differences in the use of guideline-recommended medical and interventional therapies for acute coronary syndromes: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the use of guideline-recommended medical and interventional therapies in older and younger patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Fifty-five hospitals in Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven thousand nine hundred thirty-two patients with ACS enrolled between March 1, 2001, and June 30, 2006. ACS definition included ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and unstable angina pectoris (UA). MEASUREMENTS: Use of medical and interventional therapies was determined after exclusion of patients with contraindications and after adjustment for comorbidities. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) per year increase in age. RESULTS: Elderly patients were less likely to receive acetylsalicylic acid (OR=0.976, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.969-0.980) or beta-blockers (OR=0.985, 95% CI=0.981-0.989). No age-dependent difference was found for heparin use. Elderly patients with STEMI were less likely to receive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or thrombolysis (OR=0.955, 95% CI=0.949-0.961). Elderly patients with NSTEMI or UA less often underwent PCI (OR=0.943, 95% CI=0.937-0.949). CONCLUSION: Elderly patients across the whole spectrum of ACS were less likely to receive guideline-recommended therapies, even after adequate adjustment for comorbidities. Prognosis of elderly patients with ACS may be improved by increasing adherence to guideline-recommended medical and interventional therapies.

Aging effects on selective attention-related electroencephalographic patterns during face encoding.

Previous electrophysiological studies revealed that human faces elicit an early visual event-related potential (ERP) within the occipito-temporal cortex, the N170 component. Although face perception has been proposed to rely on automatic processing, the impact of selective attention on N170 remains controversial both in young and elderly individuals. Using early visual ERP and alpha power analysis, we assessed the influence of aging on selective attention to faces during delayed-recognition tasks for face and letter stimuli, examining 36 elderly and 20 young adults with preserved cognition. Face recognition performance worsened with age. Aging induced a latency delay of the N1 component for faces and letters, as well as of the face N170 component. Contrasting with letters, ignored faces elicited larger N1 and N170 components than attended faces in both age groups. This counterintuitive attention effect on face processing persisted when scenes replaced letters. In contrast with young, elderly subjects failed to suppress irrelevant letters when attending faces. Whereas attended stimuli induced a parietal alpha band desynchronization within 300-1000 ms post-stimulus with bilateral-to-right distribution for faces and left lateralization for letters, ignored and passively viewed stimuli elicited a central alpha synchronization larger on the right hemisphere. Aging delayed the latency of this alpha synchronization for both face and letter stimuli, and reduced its amplitude for ignored letters. These results suggest that due to their social relevance, human faces may cause paradoxical attention effects on early visual ERP components, but they still undergo classical top-down control as a function of endogenous selective attention. Aging does not affect the face bottom-up alerting mechanism but reduces the top-down suppression of distracting letters, possibly impinging upon face recognition, and more generally delays the top-down suppression of task-irrelevant information.

A novel bioinformatics pipeline to discover genes related to arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis based on their evolutionary conservation pattern among higher plants.

BACKGROUND: Genes involved in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis have been identified primarily by mutant screens, followed by identification of the mutated genes (forward genetics). In addition, a number of AM-related genes has been identified by their AM-related expression patterns, and their function has subsequently been elucidated by knock-down or knock-out approaches (reverse genetics). However, genes that are members of functionally redundant gene families, or genes that have a vital function and therefore result in lethal mutant phenotypes, are difficult to identify. If such genes are constitutively expressed and therefore escape differential expression analyses, they remain elusive. The goal of this study was to systematically search for AM-related genes with a bioinformatics strategy that is insensitive to these problems. The central element of our approach is based on the fact that many AM-related genes are conserved only among AM-competent species. RESULTS: Our approach involves genome-wide comparisons at the proteome level of AM-competent host species with non-mycorrhizal species. Using a clustering method we first established orthologous/paralogous relationships and subsequently identified protein clusters that contain members only of the AM-competent species. Proteins of these clusters were then analyzed in an extended set of 16 plant species and ranked based on their relatedness among AM-competent monocot and dicot species, relative to non-mycorrhizal species. In addition, we combined the information on the protein-coding sequence with gene expression data and with promoter analysis. As a result we present a list of yet uncharacterized proteins that show a strongly AM-related pattern of sequence conservation, indicating that the respective genes may have been under selection for a function in AM. Among the top candidates are three genes that encode a small family of similar receptor-like kinases that are related to the S-locus receptor kinases involved in sporophytic self-incompatibility. CONCLUSIONS: We present a new systematic strategy of gene discovery based on conservation of the protein-coding sequence that complements classical forward and reverse genetics. This strategy can be applied to diverse other biological phenomena if species with established genome sequences fall into distinguished groups that differ in a defined functional trait of interest.

Floating arterial thrombus related stroke treated by intravenous thrombolysis.

BACKGROUND: The effects of intravenous thrombolysis on floating thrombi in cervical and intracranial arteries of acute ischemic stroke patients are unknown. Similarly, the best prevention methods of early recurrences remain controversial. This study aimed to describe the clinical and radiological outcome of thrombolyzed strokes with floating thrombi. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed all thrombolyzed stroke patients in our institution between 2003 and 2010 with floating thrombi on acute CT-angiography before the intravenous thrombolysis. The floating thrombus was diagnosed if an elongated thrombus of at least 5 mm length, completely surrounded by contrast on supra-aortic neck or intracerebral arteries, was present on CT-angiography. Demographics, vascular risk factors, and comorbidities were recorded and stroke etiology was determined after a standardized workup. Repeat arterial imaging was performed by CTA at 24 h or before if clinical worsening was noted and then by Doppler and MRA during the first week and at four months. RESULTS: Of 409 thrombolyzed stroke patients undergoing acute CT Angiography, seven (1.7%) had a floating thrombus; of these seven, six had it in the anterior circulation. Demographics, risk factors and stroke severity of these patients were comparable to the other thrombolyzed patients. After intravenous thrombolysis, the floating thrombi resolved completely at 24 h in four of the patients, whereas one had an early recurrent stroke and one developed progressive worsening. One patient developed early occlusion of the carotid artery with floating thrombus and subsequently a TIA. The two patients with a stable floating thrombus had no clinical recurrences. In the literature, only one of four reported cases were found to have a thrombolysis-related early recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term outcome seemed similar in thrombolyzed patients with floating thrombus, despite a possible increase of very early recurrence. It remains to be established whether acute mechanical thrombectomy could be a safer and more effective treatment to prevent early recurrence. However, intravenous thrombolysis should not be withheld in eligible stroke patients.

Once-daily dolutegravir is superior to once-daily darunavir/ritonavir in treatment-naïve HIV-1-positive individuals: 96 week results from FLAMINGO.

INTRODUCTION: Dolutegravir (DTG) 50 mg once daily was superior to darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) 800 mg/100 mg once daily through Week 48, with 90% vs. 83% of participants achieving HIV RNA 50 c/mL (p=0.025) [1]. We present data through Week 96. MATERIAL AND METHODS: FLAMINGO is a multicentre, randomized, open-label, Phase IIIb non-inferiority study, in which HIV-1-positive ART-naïve adults with HIV-1 RNA≥1000 c/mL and no evidence of viral resistance were randomized 1:1 to receive DTG or DRV/r, with investigator-selected backbone NRTIs (TDF/FTC or ABC/3TC). Participants were stratified by screening HIV-1 RNA (≤100K c/mL) and NRTI backbone. RESULTS: A total of 484 adults were randomized and treated; 25% had baseline HIV RNA 100K c/mL. At Week 96, the proportion of participants with HIV RNA 50 c/mL was 80% in the DTG arm vs. 68% in the DRV/r arm (adjusted difference 12.4%; 95% CI 4.7, 20.2%; p=0.002). Secondary analyses supported primary results: per-protocol [(DTG 83% vs. DRV/r 70%), 95% CI 12.9 (5.3, 20.6)] and treatment-related discontinuation = failure [(98% vs. 95%), 95% CI 3.2 (-0.3, 6.7)]. Overall virologic non-response (DTG 8%; DRV/r 12%) and non-response due to other reasons (DTG 12%; DRV/r 21%) occurred less frequently on DTG. As at Week 48, the difference between arms was most pronounced in participants with high baseline viral load (82% vs. 52% response through Week 96) and in the TDF/FTC stratum (79% vs. 64%); consistent responses were seen in the ABC/3TC stratum (82% vs. 75%). Six participants (DTG 2, none post-Week 48; DRV/r 4, two post-Week 48) experienced protocol-defined virologic failure (PDVF; confirmed viral load 200 c/mL on or after Week 24); none had treatment-emergent resistance to study drugs. Most frequent drug-related adverse events (AEs) were diarrhoea, nausea and headache, with diarrhoea significantly more common on DRV/r (24%) than DTG (10%). Significantly more participants had Grade 2 fasting LDL toxicities on DRV/r (22%) vs. DTG (7%), p<0.001; mean changes in creatinine for DTG (~0.18 mg/dL) observed at Week 2 were stable through Week 96. CONCLUSIONS: Once-daily DTG was superior to once-daily DRV/r in treatment-naïve HIV-1-positive individuals, with no evidence of emergent resistance to DTG in virologic failure and relatively similar safety profiles for DTG and DRV/r through 96 Weeks.

Efficacy of brief motivational intervention at army conscription to address alcohol use and related problems: a randomized controlled trial

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of brief motivational intervention (BMI) in reducing alcohol use and related problems among binge drinkers randomly selected from a census of 20 year-old French speaking Swiss men and to test the hypothesis that BMI contributes to maintain low-risk drinking among non-bingers. Methods: Randomized controlled trial comparing the impact of BMI on weekly alcohol use, frequency of binge drinking and occurrence of alcohol-related problems. Setting: Army recruitment center. Participants: A random sample of 622 men were asked to participate, 178 either refused, or missed appointment, or had to follow military assessment procedures instead, resulting in 418 men randomized into BMI or control conditions, 88.7% completing the 6-month follow-up assessment. Intervention: A single face-to-face BMI session exploring alcohol use and related problems in order to stimulate behaviour change perspective in a non-judgmental, empathic manner based on the principles of motivational interviewing (MI). Main outcome measures: Weekly alcohol use, binge drinking frequency and the occurrence of 12 alcohol-related consequences. Results: Among binge drinkers, we observed a 20% change in drinking induced by BMI, with a reduction in weekly drinking of 1.5 drink in the BMI group, compared to an increase of 0.8 drink per week in the control group (incidence rate ratio 0.8, 95% confidence interval 0,66 to 0,98, p = 0.03). BMI did not influence the frequency of binge drinking and the occurrence of 12 possible alcohol-related consequences. However, BMI induced a reduction in the alcohol use of participants who, after drinking over the past 12 months, experienced alcohol-related consequences, i.e., hangover (-20%), missed a class (-53%), got behind at school (-54%), argued with friends (-38%), engaged in unplanned sex (-45%) or did not use protection when having sex (-64%). BMI did not reduce weekly drinking in those who experienced the six other problems screened. Among non-bingers, BMI did not contribute to maintain low-risk drinking. Conclusions: At army conscription, BMI reduced alcohol use in binge drinkers, particularly in those who recently experienced alcohol-related adverse consequences. No preventive effect of BMI was observed among non-bingers. BMI is an interesting preventive option in young binge drinkers, particularly in countries with mandatory army recruitment.