Abstract: The invention includes methods for reducing alcohol consumption in mammals by inhibiting expression of an aldehyde dehydrogenase (e.g., liver mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase) in cells of the mammal. Expression of the aldehyde dehydrogenase can be inhibited by administering (locally or systemically) an antisense oligonucleotide (e.g., one 12-2000 residues in length) to the mammal, whereby expression of a relatively active allele of an aldehyde dehydrogenase gene can be inhibited. Aldehyde dehydrogenase activity can also be inhibited in the cells of a mammal, for the same purposes, by administering to the cells an expression vector encoding an inactive allele dominant of the aldehyde dehydrogenase. Upon expression, subunits of the protein encoded by the inactive allele can coalesce with one another or with subunits of the cells normally-expressed aldehyde dehydrogenase to lower the level of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in the cell.

Abstract: The invention includes methods for predicting whether an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) will be efficacious for inhibiting expression of a gene. The invention also includes methods of making efficacious ASOs, comprising a 5′-TCCC-3′ motif or another chemical entity which is capable of Watson-Crick-type base-pairing with a 5′-GGGA-3′ motif in an RNA molecule such as a primary transcript or an mRNA. The invention further includes ASOs which are useful for inhibiting expression of one of tumor necrosis factor-a in a mammal. Methods of treating an animal comprising a disease or disorder which is characterized by the presence of an RNA molecule in a cell of the animal are also included.

Abstract: An assay for directly and rapidly determining the alcohol concentration of a lower alcohol in a biological fluid without dilution, comprises a solid carrier. The carrier is impregnated with a solution having the following constituents mixed in effective amounts: a cross-linked stabilized enzyme for oxidizing the alcohol in the presence of a reducible compound to produce a corresponding aldehyde and a reduction product, a chromogen which reacts with the reduction product in the presence of an agent to produce a colored compound indicative of alcohol presence in the biological fluid, a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme, an agent for converting the chromogen to the colored compound, and a buffer to maintain the solution at a predetermined acidic pH.