Alcohol consumption and plasma homocysteine

Abstract 

A few reports show that consumption of spirits and of wine correlate with elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), which is associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease. We analyzed the relation between tHcy and current daily ethanol consumption cross-sectionally in middle-aged Japanese men (n=974, age 51–59 years). Plasma tHcy was positively associated with consumption of whiskey but not with consumption of shochu (Japanese spirits), sake, beer, or wine. Odds ratios of an increase in daily intake of 30ml ethanol (approximately 1 standard deviation) for hyperhomocysteinemia (>14.0μmol/l) were 2.58 (95% confidence interval, 1.29–5.14) for whiskey, 1.08 (0.78–1.50) for shochu, 0.99 (0.59–1.66) for sake, 0.98 (0.58–1.63) for beer, and 1.70 (0.31–9.50) for wine in a multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for the daily number of cigarettes smoked, physical activity, vegetable consumption, and serum creatinine levels. After inclusion of plasma folate and vitamin B₁₂ in the multivariate analysis model, the association between whiskey ethanol consumption and hyperhomocysteinemia remained significant with odds ratio of 2.79 (1.36–5.72). These results suggest that whiskey consumption correlates with hyperhomocysteinemia independently of plasma folate or vitamin B₁₂ or lifestyle factors in the population studied.

Keywords: Alcohol, Whiskey, Folate, Vitamin B₁₂, Homocysteine