TY - JOUR
T1 - Relationship of Alcohol Intake with Inflammatory Markers and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitior-1 in Well-Functioning Older Adults
T2 - The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study
AU - Volpato, Stefano
AU - Pahor, Marco
AU - Ferrucci, Luigi
AU - Simonsick, Eleanor M.
AU - Guralnik, Jack M.
AU - Kritchevsky, Stephen B.
AU - Fellin, Renato
AU - Harris, Tamara B.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2004/2/10
Y1 - 2004/2/10
N2 - Background-Increased levels of acute-phase reactants predict the onset of poor health outcomes. A U-shaped association has been reported between alcohol intake and health outcomes, which suggests that alcohol intake may modify levels of acute-phase reactants. We investigated the relationship between weekly alcohol intake and interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Methods and Results-Data are from year 1 of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study, a biracial cohort of 3075 well-functioning men and women aged 70 to 79 years, living in Memphis, Tenn, and Pittsburgh, Pa. The analysis included 2574 persons (51.2% women; 40.1% black) with complete data. After adjustment for age, race, smoking status, history of diabetes, history of cardiovascular disease, physical activity, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, antiinflammatory medications, statins, and total fat mass, alcohol intake showed a J-shaped relationship with mean IL-6 (P for quadratic term <0.001) and CRP (P=0.014) levels. The association was consistent in both men and women. Compared with subjects who consumed 1 to 7 drinks per week, those who never drank had an increased likelihood of having high levels of both IL-6 and CRP, as did those who drank 8 or more drinks per week. We found no relationship between alcohol intake and levels of TNF-α and PAI-1 (P=0.137 and 0.08, respectively). Conclusions-In well-functioning older persons, light alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of IL-6 and CRP. These results might suggest an additional biological explanation to the epidemiological link between moderate alcohol consumption and cardiovascular events.
AB - Background-Increased levels of acute-phase reactants predict the onset of poor health outcomes. A U-shaped association has been reported between alcohol intake and health outcomes, which suggests that alcohol intake may modify levels of acute-phase reactants. We investigated the relationship between weekly alcohol intake and interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Methods and Results-Data are from year 1 of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study, a biracial cohort of 3075 well-functioning men and women aged 70 to 79 years, living in Memphis, Tenn, and Pittsburgh, Pa. The analysis included 2574 persons (51.2% women; 40.1% black) with complete data. After adjustment for age, race, smoking status, history of diabetes, history of cardiovascular disease, physical activity, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, antiinflammatory medications, statins, and total fat mass, alcohol intake showed a J-shaped relationship with mean IL-6 (P for quadratic term <0.001) and CRP (P=0.014) levels. The association was consistent in both men and women. Compared with subjects who consumed 1 to 7 drinks per week, those who never drank had an increased likelihood of having high levels of both IL-6 and CRP, as did those who drank 8 or more drinks per week. We found no relationship between alcohol intake and levels of TNF-α and PAI-1 (P=0.137 and 0.08, respectively). Conclusions-In well-functioning older persons, light alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of IL-6 and CRP. These results might suggest an additional biological explanation to the epidemiological link between moderate alcohol consumption and cardiovascular events.
KW - Aging
KW - Alcohol
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Inflammation
KW - Interleukins
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U2 - 10.1161/01.CIR.0000109503.13955.00
DO - 10.1161/01.CIR.0000109503.13955.00
M3 - Article
C2 - 14769682
AN - SCOPUS:1042263379
SN - 0009-7322
VL - 109
SP - 607
EP - 612
JO - Circulation
JF - Circulation
IS - 5
ER -