title: Insulin-mediated effects of alcohol intake on serum lipid levels in a general population: the Hisayama Study.
abstract: To determine whether the beneficial effects of alcohol on lipid concentrations are mediated by insulin levels, we performed a cross-sectional analysis in 2103 nondiabetic men and women aged 40 to 79 years from a general Japanese population in Hisayama. The multivariate-adjusted sum of fasting and 2-hour postloading insulin levels and the insulin resistance index significantly decreased with elevating alcohol intake levels in men (P < 0.01 for the trend) but not in women. No dose-response relations between alcohol intake and glucose levels were observed. In both sexes, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) significantly increased with elevated alcohol intake (P < 0.01), whereas total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) were inversely correlated with alcohol intake (P < 0.01). In contrast, triglycerides (TGs) levels in men showed a J-shaped relation to alcohol dose, with moderate drinkers (10-29 g/d) having the lowest levels. Estimates using regression models indicated that for men, 10% of the alcohol-induced increase in HDLC and 2% of the alcohol-induced decrease in LDLC were insulin mediated. It was also estimated for male subjects that 36% of the reduction in TGs due to low to moderate alcohol intake was mediated by low levels of insulin and that this insulin-mediated pathway reduced the positive alcohol-TG relation by 13% in cases of moderate to heavy drinking. Our data suggest that regular alcohol consumption dose-dependently increased insulin sensitivity among male nondiabetics, but the insulin-mediated beneficial effects of alcohol on lipid concentrations were relatively small.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi 3-1-1, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka City, 812-8582 Japan. ikato@intmed2.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiyohara
authors.forename: Michiaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Yumihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanizaki
authors.forename: Hisatomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arima
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Noriyasu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shinohara
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujishima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D007328:Insulin; D008055:Lipids; D014280:Triglycerides