The Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption With Vascular Structure and Arterial Stiffness in the Spanish...

Controversy exists regarding the way alcohol use is associated with vascular structure and arterial stiffness parameters. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between alcohol consumption with vascular structure and arterial stiffness in an adult population.

We conducted a cross-sectional study. Five hundred and one participants were recruited by random sampling from an urban population of 43,946 individuals aged 35 to 75 years, assigned from 5 healthcare centers located in Salamanca, Spain. This was a subanalysis of the EVA study. Arterial stiffness was assessed by measuring cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) with the VaSera VS-1500^® device, and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) with the Sphygmocor^® . Vascular structure was evaluated by measuring the carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) with a Sonosite Micromax^® ultrasound. Alcohol consumption was calculated using a standardized questionnaire and quantified in g/wk.

In the multiple regression analysis adjusted for sex, age, smoking status, and systolic blood pressure, the c-IMT and cf-PWV values of individuals drinking > 70 g/wk were higher than those of the reference group (nondrinkers) by 0.02 mm (p = 0.030) and 0.42 m/s (p = 0.021), respectively. The association between alcohol consumption with vascular structure and arterial stiffness only attains statistical significance for cf-PWV (p = 0.039) and c-IMT (p = 0.019), showing an association which suggests a J-shaped association. This association was not statistically significant for ba-PWV and CAVI (p = 0.446 and p = 0.141, respectively), although a similar trend was observed with ba-PWV.

The results of this study suggest that heavy alcohol consumption (>70 g/wk) is associated with increased c-IMT and cf-PWV. Moreover, we found a J-shaped association between alcohol consumption and c-IMT and cf-PWV values as markers of vascular structure and arterial stiffness, with no association with ba-PWV and CAVI being observed.