Relationship of alcohol consumption and type of alcoholic beverage consumed with plasma lipid levels: differences between Whites and African Americans of the ARIC study.
OBJECTIVE
Alcohol consumption has been shown to contribute to a favorable lipid profile, and most studies have reported a reduction in coronary heart disease risk with low-to-moderate consumption of alcohol that is generally attributed to the beneficial effects of alcohol on lipids. The influence of different types of alcoholic beverages on plasma lipid levels has been investigated to a lesser extent and in limited populations.


METHODS
We investigated the effect of overall alcohol consumption, as well as the type of alcoholic beverage consumed, on multiple lipid measures in the large bi-ethnic population of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study.


RESULTS
We found both low-to-moderate and heavy alcohol consumption, regardless of the type of alcoholic beverage consumed, to result in significantly greater levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, HDL3 cholesterol, and apolipoprotein A-I in both white and African-American males and females. Associations with other lipid measures contrasted between whites and African Americans, with greater levels of alcohol consumption resulting in significantly greater triglyceride levels in African Americans.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirm previous studies associating alcohol consumption, regardless of beverage type, with greater HDL cholesterol levels, with additional consistent associations detected for the major HDL cholesterol density subfraction, HDL3 cholesterol, and the major HDL cholesterol structural apolipoprotein, apolipoprotein A-I.
Volcik
Kelly A
KA
Human Genetics Center, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA. kelly.a.volcik@uth.tmc.edu
Ballantyne
Christie M
CM
Fuchs
Flavio D
FD
Sharrett
A Richey
AR
Boerwinkle
Eric
E
D001741:Black or African American; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages; D006801:Humans; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People
D008074:Lipoproteins