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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 May 17;16(10):1517.
doi: 10.3390/nu16101517.

Alcohol Exposure and Disease Associations: A Mendelian Randomization and Meta-Analysis on Weekly Consumption and Problematic Drinking

Mengyao Li  1   2 , Xuying Zhang  1   2 , Kailei Chen  1   2 , Yang Miao  1   2 , Yaxin Xu  1   2 , Yishuo Sun  1   2 , Mengxian Jiang  1   2 , Mengcao Liu  1   2 , Yan Gao  1   2 , Xiaoxia Xue  3 , Xuelian Li  1   2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Alcohol Exposure and Disease Associations: A Mendelian Randomization and Meta-Analysis on Weekly Consumption and Problematic Drinking

Mengyao Li et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Alcohol consumption significantly impacts disease burden and has been linked to various diseases in observational studies. However, comprehensive meta-analyses using Mendelian randomization (MR) to examine drinking patterns are limited. We aimed to evaluate the health risks of alcohol use by integrating findings from MR studies. A thorough search was conducted for MR studies focused on alcohol exposure. We utilized two sets of instrumental variables-alcohol consumption and problematic alcohol use-and summary statistics from the FinnGen consortium R9 release to perform de novo MR analyses. Our meta-analysis encompassed 64 published and 151 de novo MR analyses across 76 distinct primary outcomes. Results show that a genetic predisposition to alcohol consumption, independent of smoking, significantly correlates with a decreased risk of Parkinson's disease, prostate hyperplasia, and rheumatoid arthritis. It was also associated with an increased risk of chronic pancreatitis, colorectal cancer, and head and neck cancers. Additionally, a genetic predisposition to problematic alcohol use is strongly associated with increased risks of alcoholic liver disease, cirrhosis, both acute and chronic pancreatitis, and pneumonia. Evidence from our MR study supports the notion that alcohol consumption and problematic alcohol use are causally associated with a range of diseases, predominantly by increasing the risk.

Keywords: Mendelian randomization analysis; alcohol consumption; disease risk; meta-analysis; problematic alcohol use.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Meta-analytic summary of the relationship between alcohol consumption (measured in drinks per week) and problematic alcohol use and 23 diseases. Associations characterized by a raw p-value < 0.05 but a B-H-corrected p-value > 0.05 were deemed suggestive, whereas associations with a B-H-corrected p-value consistently < 0.05 were considered significant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Meta-analysis results of the association between genetic liability to alcohol consumption and the risk of circulatory system diseases. (B) Meta-analysis results of the association between genetic liability to problematic alcohol use and the risk of circulatory system diseases. The estimates represent odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for one standard deviation increase in genetic liability to alcohol consumption and problematic alcohol use.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Meta-analysis results of the association between genetic liability to alcohol consumption and the risk of digestive system diseases. (B) Meta-analysis results of the association between genetic liability to problematic alcohol use and the risk of digestive system diseases. The estimates represent odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for one standard deviation increase in genetic liability to alcohol consumption and problematic alcohol use. NAFLD: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; GERD: gastroesophageal reflux disease; IBS: irritable bowel syndrome.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(A) Meta-analysis results of the association between genetic liability to alcohol consumption and the risk of nervous system diseases and mental and behavioral disorders. (B) Meta-analysis results of the association between genetic liability to problematic alcohol use and the risk of nervous system diseases and mental and behavioral disorders. The estimates represent odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs for one standard deviation increase in genetic liability to alcohol consumption and problematic alcohol use. ADHD: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; ALS: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Meta-analysis results of the association between genetic liability to alcohol consumption and the risk of neoplasms. (B) Meta-analysis results of the association between genetic liability to problematic alcohol use and the risk of neoplasms. The estimates represent odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for one standard deviation increase in genetic liability to alcohol consumption and problematic alcohol use.
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