The mechanism by which moderate alcohol consumption influences coronary heart disease

Abstract

BackgroundModerate alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). A suitably integrated view of the CHD pathogenesis pathway will help to elucidate how moderate alcohol consumption could reduce CHD risk.MethodsA comprehensive literature review was conducted focusing on the pathogenesis of CHD. Biomarker data were further systematically analysed from 294 cohort studies, comprising 1 161 560 subjects. From the above a suitably integrated CHD pathogenetic system for the purpose of this study was developed.ResultsThe resulting integrated system now provides insight into the integrated higher-order interactions underlying CHD and moderate alcohol consumption. A novel ‘connection graph’ further simplifies these interactions by illustrating the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and the relative risks (RR) attributed to various measureable CHD serological biomarkers. Thus, the possible reasons for the reduced RR for CHD with moderate alcohol consumption become clear at a glance.ConclusionsAn integrated high-level model of CHD, its pathogenesis, biomarkers, and moderate alcohol consumption provides a summary of the evidence that a causal relationship between CHD risk and moderate alcohol consumption may exist. It also shows the importance of each CHD pathway that moderate alcohol consumption influences.

The Alternative Healthy Eating Index Is Associated with a Lower Risk of Fatal and Nonfatal Acute Myocardial Infarction in a Chinese Adult Population

“…Consistent with other studies, our study supports a beneficial effect of whole grains (32)(33)(34) and moderate alcohol intake (35)(36)(37) on plasma lipid profiles. Similar to other studies, our study found a higher sodium intake with higher plasma hsCRP (38) and a higher intake of PUFAs was associated with lower SBP (39).…”

The effects of alcohol on ambulatory blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes

“…The dose range of alcohol that we utilized has been ascertained in a meta-analysis of prospective population studies to result in an $25% decrease in risk of CAD mortality [32]. An alcohol-induced increase in HDL cholesterol together with the antithrombotic effects of decreased fibrinogen, anti-inflammatory effects and increased adinopectin have been invoked as the major conduits for this decrease in CAD risk [33]. A prospective study in participants with type 2 diabetes similarly observed a 17% decrease in cardiovascular events with the consumption of up to 2-3 standard drinks/day, with red wine the predominant alcoholic beverage associated with the decrease in CAD risk [13].…”

Oral health and coronary heart disease

“…This project was partially described in previous articles dealing with certain subsets of the research [8, 10, 11]. Briefly, an integrated model of CHD and health factors was developed from existing literature.…”

“…The model has been previously used to describe the effects of high carbohydrate diets on CHD [8], as well as the possible mechanisms through which antidepressants [11] and moderate alcohol consumption [10] may reduce CHD risk.…”