Alcohol consumption and platelet activation and aggregation among women and men: the Framingham Offspring Study.
BACKGROUND
Alcohol intake has been associated with lower platelet activity; however, few large-scale studies have included women, and to our knowledge, the relationship of alcohol intake with measures of platelet activation has not been studied.


METHODS
We performed a cross-sectional analysis of adults free of cardiovascular disease enrolled in the Framingham Offspring Study. Study physicians assessed alcohol consumption with a standardized questionnaire. We measured platelet activation in response to 1 and 5 microm of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) with a P-selectin assay among 1037 participants and platelet aggregability in response to ADP, epinephrine, and collagen among 2013 participants.


RESULTS
Alcohol consumption was inversely associated with P-selectin expression in response to 1 microm ADP (p = 0.007) and 5 microm ADP (p = 0.02) among men but not women. Alcohol consumption was also inversely associated with platelet aggregation induced by ADP among both women (p = 0.04) and men (p trend = 0.008) and by epinephrine among men (p = 0.03)


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol consumption is inversely associated with both platelet activation and aggregation, particularly in men. Additional research is needed to determine whether these findings contribute to the contrasting associations of alcohol consumption with risk of thrombotic and hemorrhagic cardiovascular events.
Mukamal
Kenneth J
KJ
Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. kmukamal@bidmc.harvard.edu
Massaro
Joseph M
JM
Ault
Kenneth A
KA
Mittleman
Murray A
MA
Sutherland
Patrice A
PA
Lipinska
Izabella
I
Levy
Daniel
D
D'Agostino
Ralph B
RB
Tofler
Geoffrey H
GH
D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood; D003094:Collagen / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D039661:Integrin beta3 / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019007:P-Selectin / Q000097:blood; D015539:Platelet Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012907:Smoking / Q000503:physiopathology
D039661:Integrin beta3; D019007:P-Selectin; D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate; D003094:Collagen; D004837:Epinephrine