An evaluation of the longitudinal association between alcohol consumption and a measure of inflammation

Moderate alcohol consumption appears to be associated with reduced inflammation. Determining whether this association is robust to common variations in research parameters has wide-reaching implications for our understanding of disease aetiology and public health policy. The researchers evaluated the associations between alcohol consumption and a measure of inflammation.
A secondary analysis of the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study was performed, using data from 1970 through 2016. Measurements of alcohol consumption were taken in early/mid-adulthood (ages 34 and 42), and level of inflammation marker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) at age 46. Multiverse analyses were applied to comparisons of low-to-moderate consumption and consumption above various international drinking guidelines with an ‘abstinent’ reference. Research parameters of interest related to definitions of drinking and reference groups; alcohol consumption measurement year; outcome variable transformation; and breadth of covariate adjustment.
A total of 3,101 individuals were included in the final analyses, with primary analyses limited to those where occasional consumers served as reference. All combinations of research specifications resulted in lower levels of inflammation amongst low-to-moderate consumers compared to occasional consumers (1st percentile effect: -0.21; 99th percentile effect: -0.04). Estimates comparing above-guidelines drinking with occasional consumers were less definitive (1st percentile effect: -0.26; 99th percentile effect: 0.43).
The study authors conclude that the association between low-to-moderate drinking and lower hsCRP levels is largely robust to common variations in researcher-defined parameters, warranting further research to establish whether this relationship is causal. 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, North H, Mathew N, Slade T. A comprehensive evaluation of the longitudinal association between alcohol consumption and a measure of inflammation: Multiverse and vibration of effects analyses. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2023 Apr 20; 247:109886.