Habitual alcohol drinking and peripheral blood cell counts in men with diabetes

Background. Habitual alcohol drinking has been shown to be associated with incidental diabetes and glycemic status. The aim of this study was to determine the relationships between alcohol drinking and peripheral blood cell counts in patients with diabetes. Methods. The participants (n = 333) were Japanese male workers with diabetes aged 32–65 years (mean age: 52.9 years). Relationships of frequency of habitual alcohol drinking with peripheral blood cell-related variables were investigated in middle-aged men with diabetes. Results. Erythrocyte and leukocyte counts were significantly lower in regular drinkers than in nondrinkers, while platelet count, hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit were not significantly different between regular drinkers and nondrinkers. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume were significantly higher in regular drinkers than in nondrinkers. Both serum g-glutamyl transpeptidase and HDL cholesterol levels tended to be higher with an increase of frequency of drinking. Conclusions. There are inverse associations of habitual alcohol drinking with erythrocyte count and leukocyte count but not with platelet count in men with diabetes.