title: Relationships between bone geometry, volumetric bone mineral density and bone microarchitecture of the distal radius and tibia with alcohol consumption.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Chronic heavy alcohol consumption is associated with bone density loss and increased fracture risk, while low levels of alcohol consumption have been reported as beneficial in some studies. However, studies relating alcohol consumption to bone geometry, volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and bone microarchitecture, as assessed by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT), are lacking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here we report an analysis from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study, in which we studied associations between HR-pQCT measures at the distal radius and tibia and alcohol consumption in 376 participants (198 men and 178 women) aged 72.1-81.4 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 30 (15.2%), 90 (45.5%) and 78 (39.4%) men drank minimal/none (<1 unit/week), low (≥1 unit/week and <11 units/week) and moderate/high (≥11 units/week) amounts of alcohol respectively. These figures were 74 (41.8%), 80 (45.2%) and 23 (13.0%) respectively in women for minimal/none (<1 unit/week), low (≥1 unit/week and <8 units/week) and moderate/high (≥8 units/week). At the distal radius, after adjustment for confounding factors (age, BMI, smoking status, dietary calcium intake, physical activity and socioeconomic status and years since menopause and HRT use for women), men that drank low alcohol had lower cortical thickness (p=0.038), cortical vBMD (p=0.033), and trabecular vBMD (p=0.028) and higher trabecular separation (p=0.043) than those that drank none/minimal alcohol. Similar differences were shown between minimal/none and moderate/high alcohol although these only reached statistical significance for the cortical parameters. Interestingly, after similar adjustment, women showed similar differences in the trabecular compartment between none/minimal alcohol and low alcohol at the distal tibia. However, women that drank moderate/high alcohol had significantly higher trabecular vBMD (p=0.007), trabecular thickness (p=0.026), and trabecular number (p=0.042) and higher trabecular separation (p=0.026) at the distal radius than those that drank low alcohol.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that alcohol consumption (low and moderate/high) may have a detrimental impact on bone health in men in both the cortical and trabecular compartments at the distal radius with similar results in women in the trabecular compartment between none/minimal alcohol and low alcohol at the distal tibia suggesting that avoidance of alcohol may be beneficial for bone health.
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK; Department of Rheumatology, Lille University Hospital, Lille 2, 59037 Lille cedex, France.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paccou
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.
authors.forename: Mark Hiley
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, 120 Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jameson
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK; Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dennison
authors.affiliation: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK; NIHR Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Science, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 5UG, UK; NIHR Nutrition Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK. Electronic address: cc@mrc.soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Cyrus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015519:Bone Density; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011884:Radius / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013977:Tibia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Alcohol consumption; Bone geometry; High-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography; Microarchitecture; Volumetric bone mineral density