Endothelial function is preserved in light to moderate alcohol drinkers but is impaired in heavy drinkers

Light to moderate alcohol consumption has protective effects on all-cause death and coronary artery disease in women. It is thought that light to moderate alcohol consumption has a beneficial effect on vascular function in women.
Researchers measured flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) in 702 women aged 17–86 years who provided information on alcohol consumption. Subjects were divided into four groups: non-drinkers (0 g/week), light drinkers (>0 to 140 g/week), moderate drinkers (>140 to 280 g/week) and heavy drinkers (>280 g/week). There was no significant difference in FMD among the four groups. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that alcohol consumption in non-drinkers and light drinkers was not an independent predictor of FMD. The research also compared 50 moderate drinkers and 50 non-drinkers matched for age and medical histories and 22 heavy drinkers and 22 non-drinkers in matched pair analysis. There was no significant difference in FMD between moderate drinkers and non-drinkers (8.2±4.3% vs. 8.1±3.5), while FMD in heavy drinkers was significantly lower than that in non-drinkers (5.9±2.5% vs. 8.9±3.5%).
These findings suggest that heavy alcohol consumption is associated with endothelial dysfunction but that light to moderate alcohol consumption is not associated with endothelial dysfunction in women.
Source: Oda N, Kajikawa M, Maruhashi T, Kishimoto S, Yusoff FM, Goto C, et al. (2020) Endothelial function is preserved in light to moderate alcohol drinkers but is impaired in heavy drinkers in women: Flow-mediated Dilation Japan (FMD-J) study. PLoS ONE 15(12): e0243216.