Associations of habitual alcohol drinking with HDL cholesterol and D-dimer in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

BACKGROUND

The risk of cardiovascular disease is lower in light-to-moderate alcohol drinkers than in nondrinkers in the general population. However, it remains to be clarified whether these beneficial effects of alcohol are shown in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

METHODS

The subjects were 153 male outpatients with PAD and they were divided by frequency of drinking into nondrinkers, occasional drinkers (1-4 days/wk) and regular drinkers (5-7 days/wk). Relationships of alcohol drinking with variables related to progression of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk were investigated.

RESULTS

The levels of HDL cholesterol and d-dimer were significantly higher and lower, respectively, in regular drinkers than in nondrinkers, while there were no significant differences in BMI, blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, hemoglobin A1c, platelet count, fibrinogen, ankle brachial index and intima-media thickness of the carotid artery in non-, occasional and regular drinkers. Odds ratios of regular drinkers vs. nondrinkers for low HDL cholesterol (0.24 [0.08 ∼ 0.70]) and high d-dimer (0.29 [0.14 ∼ 0.61]) were significantly lower than the reference level.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with PAD, habitual alcohol drinking was associated with increase of HDL cholesterol and suppression of blood coagulability. However, progression of atherosclerosis was not different in nondrinkers and drinkers.