Drinking alcohol—even in amounts many would consider moderate—appears to trigger measurable biological changes linked to chronic disease, and these changes are already showing up in young, otherwise healthy adults, according to a new study. The information, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that alcohol consumption, in any measurement, altered specific biomarkers across the body's blood flow, immune and metabolic systems. The changes appeared both as a result of participants' long-term drinking habits and as an immediate response to the alcohol they drank on the day of testing.
Researchers analyzed blood samples from 32 young, healthy adults with an average age of 25. They were tested before and after they consumed low or moderate doses of alcohol, or a placebo drink. The group was split between light and heavy drinkers.
The study's lead, Mollie Monnig, an associate professor of behavioral and social sciences at Brown University's Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, told Newsweek the goal was to see how alcohol affects these biomarkers, and whether the response differs based on someone's drinking history. "For several decades, the prevailing belief and even medical opinion was that 'alcohol in moderation is good for you,'" Monnig said. "However, recent epidemiological studies have debunked this notion by providing rigorous evidence that no amount of alcohol promotes better health." Monnig noted that alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable cancers in the U.S. and is an underrecognized contributor to dementia, but said the precise biological mechanisms behind those links have remained unclear.
Participants with a history of heavy drinking ended up showing higher levels of five proteins—adiponectin, angiogenin, ICAM-1, LCN2 and sRAGE—that help regulate insulin, inflammation and blood vessel function. Disruptions to these proteins have been tied to diabetes, dementia, heart disease and cancer. The study also found immediate, dose-dependent effects: sRAGE, a pro-inflammatory protein, rose after a moderate dose of alcohol and fell after a low dose.
From there, another link to chronic disease was spotted, because altered sRAGE levels are also seen in people with diabetes and hardened arteries. "It is noteworthy that several biomarkers were elevated in heavy drinkers prior to aging or onset of known disease," Monnig said. She added that the study did not include a non-drinking comparison group, since it would not have been ethical to give alcohol to people who do not drink, so it cannot determine whether light or social drinking is tied to similar changes.
Charles Smith, medical director of Agape, a treatment center in Florida, who was not involved in the study, told Newsweek the findings were notable given participants' age and health. "They still had significant protein alterations from heavy drinking in areas such as inflammation, metabolic processes and vascular functions," Smith said. But he cautioned against overstating the results.
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