Evaluation of the longitudinal association between alcohol consumption and inflammation

Moderate alcohol consumption appears to be associated with reduced inflammation compared to abstinence. However, there are concerns about the impact of common variations in researcher-defined data processing and analysis parameters on this relationship. In light of this, a group of researchers performed analyses to evaluate the robustness of the alcohol–inflammation association.
Using the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study, the relationship between alcohol consumption in early/mid-adulthood (ages 34 and 42) and levels of inflammation marker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) at age 46 was assessed in 3,101 people. The effect of low-to-moderate consumption and consumption above various international drinking guidelines was compared, with with abstincence as a reference.
Primary analyses were limited to those universes with occasional drinkers as reference. All universes resulted in lower levels of inflammation amongst low-to-moderate drinkers compared to occasional drinkers (1st percentile effect: -0.21; 99th percentile effect: -0.04). Estimates comparing above-guidelines drinking with occasional drinkers were less definitive (1st percentile effect: -0.26; 99th per-centile effect: 0.43). Breadth of covariate adjustment, and measurement year and national guidelines used to classify drinking groups accounted for considerable effect variance.
The association between low-to-moderate drinking and lower reduced inflammation appears robust to common variations in researcher-defined parameters. The association between above-guidelines drinking and hsCRP levels is less definitive.
Source: Visontay, R., Mewton, L., Sunderland, M., Bell, S., Britton, A., Osman, B., … Slade, T. (2022, August 3). A comprehensive evaluation of the longitudinal association between alcohol con-sumption and inflammation: Multiverse and vibration of effects analyses.