individuals with genetic predisposition to low alcohol metabolism susceptible to incident AF after alcohol consumption

In a recent study found the relationship between alcohol consumption, genetic predisposition and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation (AF). The findings of this study were published in the BMC Medicine Journal.

The study encompassed 399,329 subjects from the database of UK Biobank who were enrolled from 2006 to 2010. The study utilized genetic data to explore the  interplay between alcohol consumption and AF risk. The participants were followed until 2021 with the genetic predisposition to alcohol metabolism stratified based on polygenic risk score (PRS) tertiles.

During the median follow-up of 12.2-year, a total of 19,237 cases of AF was observed. The data revealed a significant association between genetic predisposition to alcohol metabolism and actual alcohol consumption habits (P < 0.001). Mild-to-moderate drinkers expressed a decreased risk of AF (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92–0.99), while heavy drinkers faced an increased risk (HR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02–1.10) compared to non-drinkers.

After stratifying the results according to PRS tertiles uncovered that mild-to-moderate drinkers had equivalent AF risks across all PRS tertiles, while the heavy drinkers expressed increased AF risk in the low PRS tertile group. In the middle/high PRS tertile groups the mild-to-moderate drinkers experienced reduced AF risks and heavy drinkers faced similar risks.

The findings highlight the critical interplay between alcohol consumption, genetic predisposition to alcohol metabolism and the risk of incident AF. The individuals with a genetic predisposition to low alcohol metabolism were observed to be more susceptible to AF by highlighting personalized risk factors for this common cardiac condition.

Source:

Park, C. S., Choi, J., Choi, J., Lee, K.-Y., Ahn, H.-J., Kwon, S., Lee, S.-R., Choi, E.-K., Kwak, S. H., & Oh, S. (2023). Risk of newly developed atrial fibrillation by alcohol consumption differs according to genetic predisposition to alcohol metabolism: a large-scale cohort study with UK Biobank. In BMC Medicine (Vol. 21, Issue 1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03229-3