Alcohol intake and the risk of chronic kidney disease

Many prospective cohort studies have investigated the association between the consumption of alcohol and chronic kidney disease risk and have revealed inconsistent results. A research team performed a meta-analysis of these studies to assess this association.
PubMed and Embase databases were searched up to 2020. 25 eligible prospective cohort studies were identified, including 514,148 participants and 35,585 incident chronic kidney disease cases. Compared with the category of minimal alcohol intake, light (RR = 0.90, I2 = 49%), moderate (RR = 0.86, I2 = 40%), and heavy (RR = 0.85, I2 = 51%) alcohol intake were associated with a lower risk of chronic kidney disease. Subgroup meta-analysis by sex indicated that light (RR = 0.92, I2 = 0%), moderate (RR = 0.83, I2 = 39%) and heavy (RR = 0.76, I2 = 40%), alcohol consumption were inversely associated with chronic kidney disease risk in male. Dose–response meta-analyses detected a nonlinear inverse association between alcohol consumption and the risk of chronic kidney disease in all participants and linear inverse association in female participants. This meta-analysis shows that light (<12 g/day), moderate (12–24 g/day), and heavy (>24 g/day) alcohol consumption are protective against chronic kidney disease in adult participants especially in males.
Source: Yuan, H.C., Yu, Q.T., Bai, H. et al. Alcohol intake and the risk of chronic kidney disease: results from a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr 75, 1555–1567 (2021).