TABLE 1.
Characteristics of 1693 participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) with inflammatory marker measurements, according to usual alcohol consumption1
| Alcohol consumption category2 |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None (n = 704) | Former (n = 127) | <1 (<12) (n = 336) | 1-6 (12-72) (n = 290) | 7-13 (84-156) (n = 103) | ≥14 (≥168) (n = 133) | P for trend | |
| Alcohol consumption (drinks/wk)3 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 20.6 | |
| Age (y) | 72.8 ± 0.34 | 72.3 ± 0.6 | 72.0 ± 0.4 | 72.0 ± 0.4 | 72.9 ± 0.7 | 71.4 ± 0.5 | 0.05 |
| Female (%) | 74 | 40 | 71 | 50 | 46 | 44 | <0.001 |
| Black (%) | 22 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 0.007 |
| Married (%) | 63 | 65 | 69 | 75 | 82 | 78 | 0.007 |
| Current smoker (%) | 8 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 8 | 21 | 0.01 |
| BMI (kg/m2)3 | 27.3 | 27.4 | 26.9 | 26.1 | 25.5 | 26.2 | 0.02 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 138 ± 1 | 139 ± 2 | 133 ± 1 | 131 ± 2 | 135 ± 3 | 138 ± 2 | 0.36 |
| Diabetes (%) | 19 | 24 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 0.07 |
| Depressive symptom score | 4.6 ± 0.2 | 4.8 ± 0.5 | 4.3 ± 0.3 | 3.6 ± 0.3 | 3.9 ± 0.5 | 4.2 ± 0.5 | 0.53 |
| Energy spent in leisure-time physical activities (kcal) | 1644 ± 128 | 1762 ± 257 | 2117 ± 176 | 2028 ± 163 | 1822 ± 226 | 1922 ± 227 | 0.69 |
| Creatinine (mg/dL) | 1.00 ± 0.01 | 1.08 ± 0.04 | 1.00 ± 0.02 | 1.02 ± 0.02 | 1.05 ± 0.03 | 1.03 ± 0.03 | 0.16 |
| IL-6 (pg/mL) | 2.4 ± 0.1 | 2.5 ± 0.3 | 2.2 ± 0.1 | 2.0 ± 0.1 | 2.1 ± 0.3 | 2.4 ± 0.2 | 0.75 |
| SAP (mg/L) | 31.3 ± 0.5 | 33.0 ± 1.2 | 30.7 ± 0.7 | 31.0 ± 0.7 | 31.1 ± 1.3 | 32.3 ± 1.1 | 0.32 |
| Apo E4 positive | 22 | 29 | 23 | 34 | 18 | 25 | 0.81 |
| IL-6 - 174C positive | 54 | 62 | 57 | 49 | 67 | 52 | 0.91 |
1
IL-6, interleukin-6; Apo E4 positive indicates an apo E genotype of E2/E4, E3/E4, E4/E4. IL-6C positive indicates a genotype of CC or GC. SAP, serum amyloid P; apo E4, apolipoprotein E4. All characteristics were weighted to reflect the probability of sampling from the full CHS population. β values were derived from unadjusted tests of linear trend by using weighted linear or logistic regression and excluding former drinkers.
2
Drinks/wk; g ethanol in parentheses.
3
Mean.
4
x̄ ± = SE (all such values).