Search resultsInfluence of Alcohol Consumption on the Risk of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus among Women in the Nurses' Health Study Cohorts.
OBJECTIVE: Moderate alcohol consumption has anti-inflammatory properties and is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis risks. We investigated the association between alcohol consumption and SLE risk among women followed in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) cohorts.
METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort analysis among 204,055 women in NHS (1980-2012) and NHSII (1989-2011), free of connective tissue disease and providing alcohol information at baseline. Alcohol consumption was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire every 2-4 years. We validated incident SLE through medical record review after self-report. Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios for SLE based on cumulative average alcohol intake, adjusting for potential confounders. Results were meta-analyzed using DerSimonian and Laird random effects models. We further investigated SLE risk associated with wine, beer, and liquor intake.
RESULTS: We identified 125 incident SLE cases in NHS and 119 in NHSII. Mean age at SLE diagnosis was 55.8 (SD 9.5) years in NHS and 43.4 (SD 7.7) years in NHSII. Compared to no alcohol intake, the meta-analyzed multivariable HR for cumulative alcohol consumption ≥5 grams/day was 0.61 (95%CI 0.41-0.89). When limiting alcohol exposure to >4 years prior to SLE diagnosis, the multivariable HR was similar, 0.61 (95%CI 0.41-0.91). Women who drank ≥2 servings/week of wine had significantly decreased SLE risk (HR 0.65; 95%CI 0.45-0.96), compared to women who did not drink wine.
CONCLUSION: In these large prospective cohorts, we demonstrated an inverse association between moderate alcohol consumption (≥5 grams or 0.5 drink/day) and SLE risk in women. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.