Alcohol Consumption Index as a Novel Risk Marker for Hypertension.

OBJECTIVES: Habitual alcohol consumption is a risk factor for hypertension. The alcohol consumption index (ACI), which is defined as the product of mean corpuscular volume, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in blood, has been proposed as a biomarker for estimating individual alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between ACI and blood pressure. METHODS: The participants were an occupational cohort consisting of 6 655 men (median age: 51 years). A retrospective cohort study was performed to compare variables at baseline of the study and 5 years later. The participants were categorized by frequency of alcohol intake as non-, occasional, or regular drinkers and by amount of average daily alcohol consumption as non-, light, or heavy drinkers. They were also classified into three tertiles according to ACI. RESULTS: The odds ratios for incident hypertension in regular drinkers vs. nondrinkers [1.71 (95% confidence interval: 1.42 ~ 2.06)], heavy drinkers vs. nondrinkers [1.95 (1.60 ~ 2.37)], and the 3rd vs. 1st tertiles of ACI [1.81 (1.51 ~ 2.16)] were significantly higher than the reference level. The odds ratio for incident hypertension in the 3rd vs. 1st tertiles of ACI remained significant even after adjusting for blood pressure at baseline. In groups of individuals who changed after the 5-year follow-up from regular or heavy drinkers to nondrinkers and from the 3rd tertile of ACI to the 1st tertile, systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were significantly lower after the follow-up than at baseline. CONCLUSION: ACI, as well as alcohol intake, was associated with the risk of hypertension. Decreases in ACI and alcohol consumption after the 5-year follow-up were associated with reductions in blood pressure. These findings suggest that ACI is a useful biomarker of alcohol-related hypertension. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: The alcohol consumption index (ACI), defined as the product of GGT, HDL, and MCV, is associated with blood pressure and incident hypertension and may be a useful biomarker for prevention of alcohol-induced hypertension.