Endothelial function is preserved in light to moderate alcohol drinkers but is impaired in heavy drinkers in women: Flow-mediated Dilation Japan (FMD-J) study

Abstract

Light to moderate alcohol consumption has protective effects on all-cause death and coronary artery disease in women. It is thought that light to moderate alcohol consumption has a beneficial effect on vascular function in women. We measured flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) in 702 women aged 17–86 years who provided information on alcohol consumption. We divided the subjects into four groups: non-drinkers (0 g/week), light drinkers (>0 to 140 g/week), moderate drinkers (>140 to 280 g/week) and heavy drinkers (>280 g/week). There was no significant difference in FMD among the four groups. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that alcohol consumption in non-drinkers and light drinkers was not an independent predictor of FMD (β = −0.001, P = 0.98). We compared 50 moderate drinkers and 50 non-drinkers matched for age and medical histories and 22 heavy drinkers and 22 non-drinkers in matched pair analysis. There was no significant difference in FMD between moderate drinkers and non-drinkers (8.2±4.3% vs. 8.1±3.5, P = 0.91), while FMD in heavy drinkers was significantly lower than that in non-drinkers (5.9±2.5% vs. 8.9±3.5%, P = 0.002). These findings suggest that heavy alcohol consumption is associated with endothelial dysfunction but that light to moderate alcohol consumption is not associated with endothelial dysfunction in women. Clinical trial registration information This study was approved by principal authorities and ethical issues in Japan (University Hospital Medical Information Network UMIN000012952, 01/12/2009). www.umin.ac.jp/.

The effects of alcohol consumption on flow‐mediated dilation in humans: A systematic review

“…Two studies had findings confounded by either smoking (Papamichael et al, 2004) or olive oil consumption (Karatzi et al, 2008), and one study only reported alcohol use over the past 30 days (yes/no) with no information on the amount of alcohol consumed (Hill et al, 2020). For these reasons, we excluded these 13 studies, and therefore, 31 studies met inclusion criteria and were included in the research synthesis (Agewall et al, 2000; Andrade et al, 2009; Bau et al, 2005; Boban et al, 2006; van Bussel et al, 2018; Coimbra et al, 2005; Cuevas et al, 2000; Djousse et al, 1999; Di Gennaro et al, 2007, 2012; Goslawski et al, 2013; Hampton et al, 2010; Hashimoto et al, 2001; Hijmering et al, 2007; Huang et al, 2010; Karatzi et al, 2004, 2013; Luo et al, 2017; Maiorano et al, 1999; Muggeridge et al, 2019; Oda et al, 2017, 2020; Schaller et al, 2010; Spaak et al, 2008; Suzuki et al, 2009; Tanaka et al, 2016; Teragawa et al, 2002; Vlachopoulos et al, 2003; Whelan et al, 2004; Zilkens et al, 2003, 2005). Among these studies, only six studies were published within the past 5 years.…”

“…Six out of the 11 studies had sample sizes ranging from 36 to 108, while the other five studies were population‐based with the sample sizes ranging from 404 to 2734 (Table 3). Except for two studies (Oda et al, 2020; Suzuki et al, 2009), most studies had predominantly male participants or included only male participants. The mean age across these studies ranged between 23 and 71 years.…”

“…The mean age across these studies ranged between 23 and 71 years. Five out of the 11 studies were conducted in Asian countries (Luo et al, 2017;Oda et al, 2017Oda et al, , 2020Tanaka et al, 2016;Teragawa et al, 2002). Among studies conducted in non-Asian countries, one reported that nearly half of participants were Caucasians (Goslawski et al, 2013), one study reported that ~17% participants were non-Hispanic Black and ~15% were non-Hispanic White (Suzuki et al, 2009), while the other studies did not specify race/ ethnicity.…”

Association between Urinary Phthalate Metabolites and Markers of Endothelial Dysfunction in Adolescents and Young Adults

“…The potential confounders consisted of both continuous variables (age, total cholesterol, BMI), and categorical variables (gender, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and household income). Based on previous research, the abovementioned factors were associated with endothelial dysfunction or microparticles [32][33][34][35][36][37][38]; thus, all factors were selected in the regression model. A natural log transformation was performed for the concentrations of ΣDEHP, MnBP, EMPs, and PMPs.…”

“…To determine total exposure to DEHP, we estimated urinary concentrations of the metabolites by summing the molar concentrations of MEHP, MEHHP, and MEOHP as described in previous research (hereafter referred to as ΣDEHP in μmol/g creatinine) [ 29 , 30 ]; all other phthalate metabolites analyzed in this study are expressed in μg/g creatinine [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. The distribution of different phthalate metabolites according to basic characteristics were analyzed, with urine metabolites concentrations expressed as geometric means and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).…”