94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1563759
Impact of Alcohol Consumption on atherosclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
- 2The Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changchun, Jilin Province, China
- 3School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, guangxi, China
- 4Changchun Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Changchun, Jilin, China
- 5Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, Hebei Province, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Atherosclerosis, a chronic vascular disease, impacts various arterial systems, such as the coronary, carotid, cerebral, renal, and peripheral arteries. Dietary factors, especially alcohol consumption, significantly contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis. However, systematic evaluations of alcohol's impact on atherosclerosis are still limited. This study investigates the impact of alcohol consumption on atherosclerosis via meta-analysis and assesses the moderating effects of drinking frequency, gender, and other factors. Methods: By December 2024, a comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases.Studies evaluating the relationship between alcohol consumption and atherosclerosis were rigorously selected and assessed for quality. The study protocol was registered with the INPLASY database.Data extraction and statistical analysis were conducted using STATA 18.0 software. A total of 26 studies involving 326,513 patients across 10 countries were included. Considering that different biological mechanisms may regulate atherosclerosis in different arterial locations, we conducted subgroup analyses to explore differences in country, study type, arterial site, diagnostic criteria, type of alcohol, and gender. Result: The results show that the overall analysis did not show a significant promoting effect of alcohol consumption on the development of atherosclerosis (OR=0.92, 95% CI 0.80-1.06, P =0.227). Subgroup analyses revealed several important trends. Alcohol consumption may increase the risk of atherosclerosis in specific countries (Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and Denmark), types of studies (cohort and case-control studies), arterial locations (coronary arteries), and diagnostic criteria (clinical diagnosis and computed tomography). Interestingly, we found that alcohol consumption may increase the risk of atherosclerosis in women. Furthermore, varying levels of alcohol consumption appear to result in differing risks of the disease. Conclusions: The impact of alcohol consumption on atherosclerosis is not singular and may interact with multiple factors, including environmental factors, lesion location, and individual characteristics.
Keywords: alcohol, consumption, Atherosclerosis, Meta-analysis, Systematic review
Received: 20 Jan 2025; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 宋, She, Yin, Hu, Shi and Chang. 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: Liping Chang, Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, Hebei Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.