Alcohol consumption and immune cell profiles: Insights from the Framingham Heart Study

IF 2.7 Q2 SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.) Pub Date : 2025-07-29 DOI:10.1111/acer.70122

Ahmed A. Y. Ragab, Margaret F. Doyle, Jiachen Chen, Kathryn L. Lunetta, Joanne M. Murabito

{"title":"Alcohol consumption and immune cell profiles: Insights from the Framingham Heart Study","authors":"Ahmed A. Y. Ragab, Margaret F. Doyle, Jiachen Chen, Kathryn L. Lunetta, Joanne M. Murabito","doi":"10.1111/acer.70122","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Background</h3>\n \n <p>Alcohol consumption affects immune function, with excessive intake linked to immune suppression and inflammation. However, its impact on immune cell phenotypes remains unclear. This study investigates the association between alcohol consumption and immune cell profiles in a well-characterized Framingham Heart Study (FHS) cohort while examining sex-specific differences in alcohol-immune cell associations.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Methods</h3>\n \n <p>We analyzed data from 996 participants of the FHS Offspring cohort who underwent immune cell phenotyping and completed an alcohol questionnaire during Exam 7 (1998–2001). Alcohol intake was categorized as abstainer, moderate, at-risk, or heavy drinking. Linear mixed-effects models examined associations between alcohol intake and 15 immune cell phenotypes, adjusting for age, sex, and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (Model 1) and additional covariates (Model 2). False discovery rate (FDR) correction was applied for multiple testing.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Results</h3>\n \n <p>The CD4+ Tn/Tm ratio showed a significant nonlinear relationship with alcohol categories in Model 1 (<i>p</i> = 0.002, FDR = 0.03), with higher ratios in moderate (<i>β</i> = 0.26) and at-risk drinkers (<i>β</i> = 0.26) compared with abstainers; effects were smaller in Model 2 (<i>β</i> = 0.23 and <i>β</i> = 0.23, respectively). Sex-stratified analyses revealed that among males, alcohol consumption was associated with several immune cell phenotypes in Model 1, and with CD8+ Tn/Tm ratio in Model 2 (<i>p</i> = 0.0001, FDR = 0.002), where moderate drinking was associated with higher CD8+ Tn/Tm ratio compared with abstainers (<i>β</i> = 0.29). Among male drinkers, consumption level was also associated with CD8+ Tn/Tm ratio in both models: at-risk and heavy consumption showed significantly lower CD8+ Tn/Tm ratio compared with moderate drinkers (<i>β</i> = −0.43 and <i>β</i> = −0.46, respectively, in Model 2).</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusions</h3>\n \n <p>Alcohol consumption exhibits a nonlinear relationship with certain immune cells, with moderate intake potentially benefiting immunity, while higher consumption may compromise immune homeostasis. Given the study's cross-sectional design, causality cannot be inferred; nonetheless, our sex-specific, dose-dependent findings merit confirmation in longitudinal cohorts.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":72145,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","volume":"49 9","pages":"1953-1961"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.70122","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SUBSTANCE ABUSE","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Alcohol consumption affects immune function, with excessive intake linked to immune suppression and inflammation. However, its impact on immune cell phenotypes remains unclear. This study investigates the association between alcohol consumption and immune cell profiles in a well-characterized Framingham Heart Study (FHS) cohort while examining sex-specific differences in alcohol-immune cell associations.

Methods

We analyzed data from 996 participants of the FHS Offspring cohort who underwent immune cell phenotyping and completed an alcohol questionnaire during Exam 7 (1998–2001). Alcohol intake was categorized as abstainer, moderate, at-risk, or heavy drinking. Linear mixed-effects models examined associations between alcohol intake and 15 immune cell phenotypes, adjusting for age, sex, and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (Model 1) and additional covariates (Model 2). False discovery rate (FDR) correction was applied for multiple testing.

Results

The CD4+ Tn/Tm ratio showed a significant nonlinear relationship with alcohol categories in Model 1 (p = 0.002, FDR = 0.03), with higher ratios in moderate (β = 0.26) and at-risk drinkers (β = 0.26) compared with abstainers; effects were smaller in Model 2 (β = 0.23 and β = 0.23, respectively). Sex-stratified analyses revealed that among males, alcohol consumption was associated with several immune cell phenotypes in Model 1, and with CD8+ Tn/Tm ratio in Model 2 (p = 0.0001, FDR = 0.002), where moderate drinking was associated with higher CD8+ Tn/Tm ratio compared with abstainers (β = 0.29). Among male drinkers, consumption level was also associated with CD8+ Tn/Tm ratio in both models: at-risk and heavy consumption showed significantly lower CD8+ Tn/Tm ratio compared with moderate drinkers (β = −0.43 and β = −0.46, respectively, in Model 2).

Conclusions

Alcohol consumption exhibits a nonlinear relationship with certain immune cells, with moderate intake potentially benefiting immunity, while higher consumption may compromise immune homeostasis. Given the study's cross-sectional design, causality cannot be inferred; nonetheless, our sex-specific, dose-dependent findings merit confirmation in longitudinal cohorts.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

酒精消费和免疫细胞概况：来自弗雷明汉心脏研究的见解。

背景：饮酒影响免疫功能，过量饮酒与免疫抑制和炎症有关。然而，其对免疫细胞表型的影响尚不清楚。本研究在一个特征明确的弗雷明汉心脏研究（FHS）队列中调查了饮酒与免疫细胞谱之间的关系，同时检查了酒精与免疫细胞关联的性别特异性差异。方法：我们分析了996名FHS后代队列参与者的数据，他们在第7次考试（1998-2001）期间接受了免疫细胞表型分析并完成了酒精问卷调查。酒精摄入分为戒酒、中度、高危和重度饮酒。线性混合效应模型检验了酒精摄入与15种免疫细胞表型之间的关系，调整了年龄、性别、巨细胞病毒（CMV）（模型1）和其他协变量（模型2）。采用错误发现率（FDR）校正进行多重检验。结果：在模型1中，CD4+ Tn/Tm比值与酒精种类呈显著的非线性关系（p = 0.002, FDR = 0.03），适度饮酒者（β = 0.26）和高危饮酒者（β = 0.26）的比值高于不饮酒者；模型2的效应较小（β = 0.23, β = 0.23）。性别分层分析显示，在男性中，饮酒与模型1中的几种免疫细胞表型相关，与模型2中的CD8+ Tn/Tm比值相关（p = 0.0001, FDR = 0.002），其中适度饮酒与不饮酒的人相比，CD8+ Tn/Tm比值更高（β = 0.29）。在男性饮酒者中，两种模型中的消费水平也与CD8+ Tn/Tm比值相关：与适度饮酒者相比，高危和重度饮酒者的CD8+ Tn/Tm比值显著降低（在模型2中分别为β = -0.43和β = -0.46）。结论：饮酒与某些免疫细胞表现出非线性关系，适量饮酒可能有利于免疫，而过量饮酒可能损害免疫稳态。考虑到研究的横断面设计，因果关系无法推断；尽管如此，我们的性别特异性、剂量依赖性的研究结果值得在纵向队列中得到证实。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Alcohol (Hanover, York County, Pa.)

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

0.00%

发文量