TY - JOUR
T1 - Alcohol consumption and common carotid intima-media thickness
T2 - The USE-IMT study
AU - Britton, Annie R.
AU - Grobbee, Diederick E.
AU - den Ruijter, Hester M.
AU - Anderson, Todd J.
AU - Desvarieux, Moise
AU - Engström, Gunnar
AU - Evans, Greg W.
AU - Hedblad, Bo
AU - Kauhanen, Jussi
AU - Kurl, Sudhir
AU - Lonn, Eva M.
AU - Mathiesen, Ellisiv B.
AU - Polak, Joseph F.
AU - Price, Jacqueline F.
AU - Rembold, Christopher M.
AU - Rosvall, Maria
AU - Rundek, Tatjana
AU - Salonen, Jukka T.
AU - Stehouwer, Coen D. A.
AU - Tuomainen, Tomi-Pekka
AU - Bots, Michiel L.
N1 - Funding Information:
The USE-IMT-project is supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw 200, 320, 003). A.R.B. is supported by a grant from the European Research Council (ERC-StG-2012-309, 337_AlcoholLifecourse, PI: Britton, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/alcohol-lifecourse) and UK Medical Research Council/Alcohol Research UK (MR/M006638/1).
PY - 2017/7/1
Y1 - 2017/7/1
N2 - Aims: Epidemiological evidence indicates a protective effect of light to moderate alcohol consumption compared to non-drinking and heavy drinking. Although several mechanisms have been suggested, the effect of alcohol on atherosclerotic changes in vessel walls is unclear. Therefore, we explored the relationship between alcohol consumption and common carotid intima media thickness, a marker of early atherosclerosis in the general population. Methods: Individual participant data from eight cohorts, involving 37,494 individuals from the USE-IMT collaboration were used. Multilevel age and sex adjusted linear regression models were applied to estimate mean differences in common carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) with alcohol consumption. Results: The mean age was 57.9 years (SD 8.6) and the mean CIMT was 0.75 mm (SD 0.177). About, 40.5% reported no alcohol consumed, and among those who drank, mean consumption was 13.3 g per day (SD 16.4). Those consuming no alcohol or a very small amount (<5 g per day) had significantly lower common CIMT values than those consuming >10 g per day, after adjusting for a range of confounding factors. Conclusion: In this large CIMT consortium, we did not find evidence to support a protective effect of alcohol on CIMT.
AB - Aims: Epidemiological evidence indicates a protective effect of light to moderate alcohol consumption compared to non-drinking and heavy drinking. Although several mechanisms have been suggested, the effect of alcohol on atherosclerotic changes in vessel walls is unclear. Therefore, we explored the relationship between alcohol consumption and common carotid intima media thickness, a marker of early atherosclerosis in the general population. Methods: Individual participant data from eight cohorts, involving 37,494 individuals from the USE-IMT collaboration were used. Multilevel age and sex adjusted linear regression models were applied to estimate mean differences in common carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) with alcohol consumption. Results: The mean age was 57.9 years (SD 8.6) and the mean CIMT was 0.75 mm (SD 0.177). About, 40.5% reported no alcohol consumed, and among those who drank, mean consumption was 13.3 g per day (SD 16.4). Those consuming no alcohol or a very small amount (<5 g per day) had significantly lower common CIMT values than those consuming >10 g per day, after adjusting for a range of confounding factors. Conclusion: In this large CIMT consortium, we did not find evidence to support a protective effect of alcohol on CIMT.
KW - atherosclerosis
KW - ethanol
KW - alcohol drinking
KW - linear regression
KW - moderate drinking
KW - heavy drinking
KW - carotid intima-media thickness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85021773416&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/alcalc/agx028
DO - 10.1093/alcalc/agx028
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85021773416
SN - 0735-0414
VL - 52
SP - 483
EP - 486
JO - Alcohol and alcoholism
JF - Alcohol and alcoholism
IS - 4
ER -