title: Associations between alcohol consumption and selected cytokines in a Swiss population-based sample (CoLaus study).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the associations between alcohol consumption and cytokine levels (interleukin-1beta - IL-1β; interleukin-6 - IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α - TNF-α) in a Caucasian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population sample of 2884 men and 3201 women aged 35-75. Alcohol consumption was categorized as nondrinkers, low (1-6 drinks/week), moderate (7-13/week) and high (14+/week).
  
  
  RESULTS
  No difference in IL-1β levels was found between alcohol consumption categories. Low and moderate alcohol consumption led to lower IL-6 levels: median (interquartile range) 1.47 (0.70-3.51), 1.41 (0.70-3.32), 1.42 (0.66-3.19) and 1.70 (0.83-4.39) pg/ml for nondrinkers, low, moderate and high drinkers, respectively, p<0.01, but this association was no longer significant after multivariate adjustment. Compared to nondrinkers, moderate drinkers had the lowest odds (Odds ratio=0.86 (0.71-1.03)) of being in the highest quartile of IL-6, with a significant (p<0.05) quadratic trend. Low and moderate alcohol consumption led to lower TNF-α levels: 2.92 (1.79-4.63), 2.83 (1.84-4.48), 2.82 (1.76-4.34) and 3.15 (1.91-4.73) pg/ml for nondrinkers, low, moderate and high drinkers, respectively, p<0.02, and this difference remained borderline significant (p=0.06) after multivariate adjustment. Moderate drinkers had a lower odds (0.81 [0.68-0.98]) of being in the highest quartile of TNF-α. No specific alcoholic beverage (wine, beer or spirits) effect was found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower levels of IL-6 and (to a lesser degree) of TNF-α, irrespective of the type of alcohol consumed. No association was found between IL-1β levels and alcohol consumption.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), CHUV and Faculty of Biology and Medicine, 1066 Epalinges, Switzerland. Pedro-Manuel.Marques-Vidal@chuv.ch
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marques-Vidal
authors.forename: Murielle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bochud
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bastardot
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: von Känel
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferrero
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gaspoz
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paccaud
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Urwyler
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lüscher
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hock
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waeber
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Preisig
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vollenweider
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013557:Switzerland; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha