Fibrinogen - A possible link between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease?

The relation between alcohol consumption and fibrinogen concentration was e valuated in a French population to investigate whether fibrinogen could exp lain part of the relation between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular di sease. Cross-sectional data on self-reported alcohol consumption and fibrin ogen, measured by the immunonephelometric method, of 4967 men and women age d 30 to 64 years were used. These subjects were volunteers for a free healt h checkup in the western central part of France from 1994 to 1996 and parti cipated in the DESIR Study (Data from an Epidemiological Study on the Insul in Resistance syndrome). Alcohol consumption was strongly associated with f ibrinogen concentration, with higher concentrations in those who were nondr inkers or who drank >60 g of alcohol per day. This U-shaped association was stronger among men than women. Consumption of wine and spirits was associa ted with fibrinogen, whereas consumption of beer or cider was not. Furtherm ore, smoking was positively associated with fibrinogen concentration, and i n men the difference between nondrinkers and drinkers with the lowest fibri nogen level was higher in nonsmokers and ex-smokers than in current smokers . We conclude that moderate drinking may lower fibrinogen concentration. If fibrinogen is a causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it may be 1 of the variables that explain the protective effect of moderate alcohol co nsumption on cardiovascular disease.