title: Metabolic profiling of alcohol consumption in 9778 young adults.
abstract: High alcohol consumption is a major cause of morbidity, yet alcohol is associated with both favourable and adverse effects on cardiometabolic risk markers. We aimed to characterize the associations of usual alcohol consumption with a comprehensive systemic metabolite profile in young adults.
  
  
  
  Cross-sectional associations of alcohol intake with 86 metabolic measures were assessed for 9778 individuals from three population-based cohorts from Finland (age 24-45 years, 52% women). Metabolic changes associated with change in alcohol intake during 6-year follow-up were further examined for 1466 individuals. Alcohol intake was assessed by questionnaires. Circulating lipids, fatty acids and metabolites were quantified by high-throughput nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics and biochemical assays.
  
  
  
  Increased alcohol intake was associated with cardiometabolic risk markers across multiple metabolic pathways, including higher lipid concentrations in HDL subclasses and smaller LDL particle size, increased proportions of monounsaturated fatty acids and decreased proportion of omega-6 fatty acids, lower concentrations of glutamine and citrate (P < 0.001 for 56 metabolic measures). Many metabolic biomarkers displayed U-shaped associations with alcohol consumption. Results were coherent for men and women, consistent across the three cohorts and similar if adjusting for body mass index, smoking and physical activity. The metabolic changes accompanying change in alcohol intake during follow-up resembled the cross-sectional association pattern (R2= 0.83, slope = 0.72 ± 0.04).
  
  
  
  Alcohol consumption is associated with a complex metabolic signature, including aberrations in multiple biomarkers for elevated cardiometabolic risk. The metabolic signature tracks with long-term changes in alcohol consumption. These results elucidate the double-edged effects of alcohol on cardiovascular risk.
authors: Computational Medicine, University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, Oulu, Finland peter.wurtz@computationalmedicine.fi.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Würtz
authors: Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Cook
authors: Computational Medicine, University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, Oulu, Finland.|NMR Metabolomics Laboratory, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
authors: Qin
authors: Q
authors: Wang
authors: Computational Medicine, University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, Oulu, Finland.|NMR Metabolomics Laboratory, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
authors: Mika
authors: M
authors: Tiainen
authors: Computational Medicine, University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, Oulu, Finland.|NMR Metabolomics Laboratory, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
authors: Tuulia
authors: T
authors: Tynkkynen
authors: Computational Medicine, University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
authors: Antti J
authors: AJ
authors: Kangas
authors: Computational Medicine, University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, Oulu, Finland.|NMR Metabolomics Laboratory, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
authors: Pasi
authors: P
authors: Soininen
authors: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Jaana
authors: J
authors: Laitinen
authors: Division of Medicine, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
authors: Jorma
authors: J
authors: Viikari
authors: Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
authors: Mika
authors: M
authors: Kähönen
authors: Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories and School of Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
authors: Terho
authors: T
authors: Lehtimäki
authors: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.|Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|University of Tartu, Estonian Genome Center, Tartu, Estonia.
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Perola
authors: Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.|Clinic for General and Interventional Cardiology, University Heart Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.|German Center for Cardiovascular Research, Lübeck, Kiel, Germany.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Blankenberg
authors: Clinic for General and Interventional Cardiology, University Heart Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.|German Center for Cardiovascular Research, Lübeck, Kiel, Germany.
authors: Tanja
authors: T
authors: Zeller
authors: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Satu
authors: S
authors: Männistö
authors: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors: Veikko
authors: V
authors: Salomaa
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.|Center for Life Course Health Research and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
authors: Marjo-Riitta
authors: MR
authors: Järvelin
authors: Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.|Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
authors: Olli T
authors: OT
authors: Raitakari
authors: Computational Medicine, University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, Oulu, Finland.|NMR Metabolomics Laboratory, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.|Computational Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.|Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors: Mika
authors: M
authors: Ala-Korpela
authors: Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.|Department of Community Medicine, UiT Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
authors: David A
authors: DA
authors: Leon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D015415:Biomarkers; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008074:Lipoproteins
keywords: Alcohol; fatty acids; metabolic profiling; metabolomics; risk factors