Moderate alcohol consumption reduces plasma C-reactive protein and fibrinogen levels : a randomized, diet-controlled intervention study
article
Objective: To evaluate the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the acute phase proteins C-reactive protein and fibrinogen. Design: Randomized, diet-controlled, cross-over study. Setting: The study was performed at TNO Nutrition and Food Research, Zeist, The Netherlands. Subjects: Ten middle-aged men and 10 postmenopausal women, all apparently healthy, non-smoking and moderate alcohol drinkers, were included. One women dropped out because of a treatment-unrelated cause. The remaining 19 subjects finished the experiment successfully. Interventions: Men consumed four glasses and women consumed three glasses of beer or no-alcohol beer (control) with evening dinner during two successive periods of 3 weeks. The total diet was supplied to the subjects and had essentially the same composition during these 6 weeks. Before each treatment there was a 1 week washout period to compensate for possible carry-over effects. Results: Plasma C-reactive protein and fibrinogen levels were decreased by 35% (P = 0.02) and 12.4% (P ≤ 0.001), respectively, after 3 weeks' consumption of beer, as compared to no-alcohol beer consumption. Conclusions: Moderate alcohol consumption significantly decreased plasma C-reactive protein and fibrinogen levels. An anti-inflammatory action of alcohol may help explain the link between moderate alcohol consumption and lower cardiovascular disease risk.
Topics
AlcoholAtherosclerosisC-reactive proteinFibrinogenInflammationAcetylsalicylic acidAcute phase proteinAlanine aminotransferaseAspartate aminotransferaseEstradiolFollitropinGamma glutamyltransferaseGlucoseHemoglobinHigh density lipoprotein cholesterolLow density lipoprotein cholesterolParacetamolTriacylglycerolAdultAlcohol consumptionAntiinflammatory activityCardiovascular riskCigarette smokingClinical trialControlled clinical trialControlled studyCrossover procedureDiet therapyFibrinogen blood levelFood compositionHuman experimentNetherlandsPostmenopauseProtein blood levelRandomized controlled trialAlcohol DrinkingBeerC-Reactive ProteinCardiovascular DiseasesCholesterol, HDLCross-Over StudiesDietFemaleHumansLiverMaleMiddle AgedPostmenopauseTriglycerides
TNO Identifier
87748
Source
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 56(11), pp. 1130-1136.
Pages
1130-1136
Files
To receive the publication files, please send an e-mail request to TNO Repository.