News Release

Alcohol intake increases risk of high blood pressure; and more

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

Alcohol intake increases risk of hypertension

A new study published in PLoS Medicine shows that individuals who drink on a regular basis have a systolic blood pressure around 7 mmHg higher than that of people who do not drink.

The researchers, led by Sarah Lewis from the University of Bristol, UK investigated the results of five published studies which looked at the association between blood pressure and a variation in the gene for the enzyme that removes alcohol from the body, aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2). People who inherit two copies of the variant form of this gene from their parents have the ALDH2 *2*2 genotype and become flushed and nauseated after drinking. Consequently, they drink less than people with a *1*2 genotype and much less than those with a *1*1 genotype. Because inheritance of these genetic variants does not seem to affect lifestyle factors other than alcohol intake, an association between ALDH2 genotypes and blood pressure would indicate that alcohol intake has an effect on blood pressure.

The studies were mainly done in Japan where the ALDH2 gene variant is common. A combined (meta) analysis showed that men with the *1*1 genotype (and hence highest alcohol intake) and those with the *1*2 genotype (intermediate alcohol intake) were 2.42 and 1.72 times more likely, respectively, to have hypertension than those with the *2*2 genotype (lowest alcohol intake). There was no association between ALDH2 genotype and hypertension among the women in these studies because they drank very little.

These findings support the suggestion that alcohol has a marked effect on blood pressure, at least for Japanese men. Additional large-scale studies are needed to confirm the finding in more people, and to improve the estimates of the effect that alcohol intake has on blood pressure.

Citation: Chen L, Davey Smith G, Harbord R, Lewis SJ (2008) Alcohol and blood pressure: A systematic review implementing a mendelian randomization approach. PLoS Med 5(3): e52.

IN YOUR ARTICLE, PLEASE LINK TO THIS URL, WHICH WILL PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE PUBLISHED PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050052

PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-05-03-lewis.pdf

CONTACTS:
Sarah Lewis
University of Bristol
Social Medicine
Whiteladies Road,
Bristol, Avon BS8 2PR
United Kingdom
+44 117 928 7266
+44 7966 410953 (cell)
s.j.lewis@bristol.ac.uk

Please note that Sarah Lewis will be out of her office until 5th March.

George Davey Smith
University of Bristol
Social Medicine
Whiteladies Road
Bristol, Avon BS28 2PR
United Kingdom
+ 44 117 928 7201 (secretary)
George.Davey-Smith@bristol.ac.uk


THE FOLLOWING RESEARCH ARTICLES WILL ALSO BE PUBLISHED ONLINE:

An antibiotic-responsive mouse model of fulminant ulcerative colitis

Paul Allen (of the Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis) and colleagues describe the development of a mouse model of fulminant ulcerative colitis with multiple genetic hits in immune regulation which can be moderated by anti-cytokine therapy and broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Citation: Kang SS, Bloom SM, Norian LA, Geske MJ, Flavell RA, et al. (2008) An antibiotic-responsive mouse model of fulminant ulcerative colitis. PLoS Med 5(3): e41.

PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050041

PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-05-03-allen.pdf

CONTACT:
Paul Allen
University of Washington School of Medicine
Pathology and Immunology
660 S. Euclid Ave
St. Louis, MO 63110
United States of America
+1 414-362-8470
pallen@wustl.edu

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About PLoS Medicine

PLoS Medicine is an open access, freely available international medical journal. It publishes original research that enhances our understanding of human health and disease, together with commentary and analysis of important global health issues. For more information, visit http://www.plosmedicine.org

About the Public Library of Science

The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org


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