title: Relationship of alcohol intake with inflammatory markers and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 in well-functioning older adults: the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increased levels of acute-phase reactants predict the onset of poor health outcomes. A U-shaped association has been reported between alcohol intake and health outcomes, which suggests that alcohol intake may modify levels of acute-phase reactants. We investigated the relationship between weekly alcohol intake and interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data are from year 1 of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study, a biracial cohort of 3075 well-functioning men and women aged 70 to 79 years, living in Memphis, Tenn, and Pittsburgh, Pa. The analysis included 2574 persons (51.2% women; 40.1% black) with complete data. After adjustment for age, race, smoking status, history of diabetes, history of cardiovascular disease, physical activity, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, antiinflammatory medications, statins, and total fat mass, alcohol intake showed a J-shaped relationship with mean IL-6 (P for quadratic term <0.001) and CRP (P=0.014) levels. The association was consistent in both men and women. Compared with subjects who consumed 1 to 7 drinks per week, those who never drank had an increased likelihood of having high levels of both IL-6 and CRP, as did those who drank 8 or more drinks per week. We found no relationship between alcohol intake and levels of TNF-alpha and PAI-1 (P=0.137 and 0.08, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In well-functioning older persons, light alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of IL-6 and CRP. These results might suggest an additional biological explanation to the epidemiological link between moderate alcohol consumption and cardiovascular events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Ferrara, Via Savonarola, 9, I-44100 Ferrara, Italy. vlt@unife.it
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Volpato
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pahor
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
authors.forename: Eleanor M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Simonsick
authors.forename: Jack M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Guralnik
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kritchevsky
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fellin
authors.forename: Tamara B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000097:blood*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D002097:C-Reactive Protein