[Alcohol consumption and the risk of insulin resistance--population based study]

The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between alcohol consumption and insulin resistance in the adult Kraków's inhabitants.

6000 subjects at age 35-75, participants of the Polish Multicenter Study on Diabetes Epidemiology, were randomized and invited to the study. Finally in 2838 participants the standardized questionnaire examination of the life style especially alcohol consumption was performed. In all persons anthropometric and blood pressure examination was performed. Fasting lipids, fasting and after glucose load glucose and insulin were determined. Glucose tolerance was determined in all study participants according WHO 1999 criteria. Insulin-resistance was defined as the highest quartile of the distribution of the HOMA-IR index assessed for population with normal glucose tolerance (NGT).

In examined group 472 (29.2%) women and 150 (12.2%) men were abstainers. Alcohol consumption below 10 glday declared 68.4% of women and 54.9% of men, between 10 and 30 g/day--2.0% of women and 24.7% of men, above 30 g/day--8.2% of men and 0.4% of women. In men with normal glucose tolerance the lowest HOMA-IR we observed in the group drinking daily above 30 g of alcohol (2.05 +/- 1.3). In men with impaired glucose tolerance the lowest HOMA-IR was observed in the group drinking daily below 10 g of alcohol, the highest in the group of abstainers (2.81 +/- 2.04 vs. 3.23 +/- 1.72; ns). For men drinking between 10 and 30 g of alcohol daily decreased the risk of insulin resistance at 40% (OR = 0.6; 95% CI: 0.37-0.96), drinking above 30 g daily decreased the risk at 49% (OR = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.27-0.96). We didn't observed this relationship in the group of women.

Our results confirm positive impact of daily alcohol intake above 10 g for the risk of insulin resistance in the group of men.