Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Oct 14;1(1):9.
doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-1-9.

The J-shape association of ethanol intake with total homocysteine concentrations: the ATTICA study

Christos Pitsavos  1 , Demosthenes B Panagiotakos, Meropi D Kontogianni, Christina Chrysohoou, Yannis Chloptsios, Antonis Zampelas, Antonia Trichopoulou, Christodoulos Stefanadis
Affiliations

The J-shape association of ethanol intake with total homocysteine concentrations: the ATTICA study

Christos Pitsavos et al. Nutr Metab (Lond). .

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies suggest a non-monotonic effect of alcohol consumption on cardiovascular risk, while there is strong evidence concerning the involvement of homocysteine levels on thrombosis. The aim of this work was to evaluate the association between usual ethanol consumption and homocysteine levels, in cardiovascular disease free adults. METHODS: From May 2001 to December 2002 we randomly enrolled 1514 adult men and 1528 women, without any evidence of cardiovascular disease, stratified by age - gender (census 2001), from the greater area of Athens, Greece. Among the variables ascertained we measured the daily ethanol consumption and plasma homocysteine concentrations. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed a J-shape association between ethanol intake (none, <12 gr, 12 - 24 gr, 25 - 48 gr, >48 gr per day) and total homocysteine levels (mean +/- standard deviation) among males (13 +/- 3 vs. 11 +/- 3 vs. 14 +/- 4 vs. 18 +/- 5 vs. 19 +/- 3 mumol/L, respectively, p < 0.01) and females (10 +/- 4 vs. 9 +/- 3 vs. 11 +/- 3 vs. 15 +/- 4 vs. 17 +/- 3 mumol/L, respectively, p < 0.01), after controlling for several potential confounders. The lowest homocysteine concentrations were observed with ethanol intake of < 12 gr/day (Bonferroni alpha* < 0.05). No differences were observed when we stratified our analysis by type of alcoholic beverage consumed. CONCLUSION: We observed a J-shape relationship between homocysteine concentrations and the amount of ethanol usually consumed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Homocysteine levels by daily ethanol intake in males (upper figure) and females (power figure) (continuous line is a 3rd order interpolating polynomial)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McGinnis JM, Foege WH. Actual causes of death in the United States. JAMA. 1993;270:2207–2012. - PubMed
    1. Klatsky AL, Armstrong MA, Friedman GD. Risk of cardiovascular mortality in ethanol drinkers, ex-drinkers and non-drinkers. Am J Cardiol. 1990;66:1237–1242. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(90)91107-H. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Maclure M. Demonstration of deductive meta-analysis Ethanol intake and risk of myocardial infarction. Epidemiol Rev. 1993;15:328–351. - PubMed
    1. Nanchahala K, Ashtonb D, Wood D. Alcohol consumption, metabolic cardiovascular risk factors and hypertension in women. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2000;29:57–64. doi: 10.1093/ije/29.1.57. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mukamal KJ, Jadhav PP, D'Agostino RB, Massaro JM, Mittleman MA, Lipinska I, Sutherland PA, Matheney T, Levy D, Wilson PW, Ellison RC, Silbershatz H, Muller JE, Tofler GH. Alcohol Consumption and Haemostatic factors, Analysis of the Framingham Offspring Cohort. Circulation. 2001;104:1367–1373. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources