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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2024.1456777
This article is part of the Research Topic Re-visiting Risk Factors for Cardiometabolic Diseases: Towards a New Epidemiological Frontier View all 5 articles

Examining the Causal Association Between Moderate Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the Taiwan Biobank: a Mendelian Randomization Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Pei-Shan Chien Pei-Shan Chien 1,2Tzu-Jung Wong Tzu-Jung Wong 3An-Shun Tai An-Shun Tai 4Yau-Huo Shr Yau-Huo Shr 5Tsung Yu Tsung Yu 2*
  • 1 Department of Chinese Medicine, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
  • 2 Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
  • 3 Department of Healthcare Information and Management, Ming Chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 4 Department of Statistics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
  • 5 Department of Agricultural Economics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background The Mendelian randomization approach uses genetic variants as instrumental variables to study the causal association between the risk factors and health outcomes of interest. We aimed to examine the relation between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors using two genetic variants as instrumental variables: alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) rs1229984 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) rs671. Methods Using data collected in the Taiwan Biobank—an ongoing, prospective, population-based cohort study—our analysis included 129,032 individuals (46,547 men and 82,485 women) with complete data on ADH1B rs1229984 and ALDH2 rs671 genotypes and alcohol drinking status. We conducted instrumental variables regression analysis to examine the relationship between alcohol drinking and body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc). Results In the rs1229984-instrumented analysis, alcohol drinking was only associated with higher levels of SBP in men and lower levels of DBP in women. In the rs671-instrumented analysis, alcohol drinking was associated with higher levels of BMI, SBP, DBP, fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDLc and lower levels of LDLc in men; alcohol drinking was associated with higher levels of HDLc and lower levels of SBP, HbA1c, and triglycerides in women. Conclusion Using Mendelian randomization analysis, some of our study results among men echoed findings from the previous systematic review, suggesting that alcohol drinking may be causally associated with higher levels of BMI, SBP, DBP, fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDLc, and lower levels of LDLc. Although alcohol drinking is beneficial to a few cardiovascular risk factors, it is detrimental to many others. The assumptions that underlie the Mendelian randomization approach should also be carefully examined when interpreting findings from such studies.

    Keywords: Mendelian Randomization, Alcohol Drinking, cardiovascular risk factors, Taiwan Biobank, causal inference

    Received: 29 Jun 2024; Accepted: 23 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chien, Wong, Tai, Shr and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tsung Yu, Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

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