2022

Causal associations of alcohol consumption with cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality among Chinese males

BACKGROUND: The causal effects of moderate alcohol consumption on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are continuously debated, especially on coronary artery disease (CAD).

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore the causal associations of alcohol consumption with CVDs and all-cause mortality among Chinese males.

METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted in 40,386 Chinese males, with 17,676 being genotyped for the rs671 variant in the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) gene. A Cox proportional hazards model was conducted to estimate the effects of self-reported alcohol consumption. Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed to explore the causality using rs671 as an instrumental variable. RESULTS: During the follow-up of 303,353 person-years, 2406 incident CVDs and 3195 all-cause mortalities were identified. J-shaped associations of self-reported alcohol consumption with incident CVD and all-cause mortality were observed, showing decreased risks for light (</=25 g/d) and moderate drinkers (25-</=60 g/d). However, MR analyses revealed a linear association of genetically predicted alcohol consumption with the incident CVD (P-trend = 0.02), including both CAD (P-trend = 0.03) and stroke (P-trend = 0.02). The HRs (95% CIs) for incident CVD across increasing tertiles of genetically predicted alcohol consumption were 1 (reference), 1.18 (1.01, 1.38), and 1.22 (1.03, 1.46). After excluding heavy drinkers, the risk of incident CVD and all-cause mortality was increased by 27% and 20% per standard drink increment of genetically predicted alcohol consumption, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses extend the evidence of the harmful effect of alcohol consumption to total CVD (including CAD) and all-cause mortality, highlighting the potential health benefits of lowering alcohol consumption, even among light-to-moderate male drinkers.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    Hu C.; Huang C.; Li J.; Liu F.; Huang K.; Liu Z.; Yang X.; Liu X.; Cao J.; Chen S.; Li H.; Shen C.; Yu L.; Wu X.; Li Y.; Hu D.; Huang J.; Lu X.; Gu D.
  • Issue

    Am J Clin Nutr, volume 116
  • Published Date

    2022