Certain genetic predispositions may increase risk of atrial fibrillation among those with high alcohol consumption

1. Among those with high levels of alcohol consumption, a genetic predisposition to poor alcohol metabolism increases the risk of developing atrial fibrillation. 

Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)

Previous research has not well established whether mild to moderate alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF). Some reports have speculated that genetic traits for alcohol metabolism may influence the relationship between alcohol consumption and AF.  In this study, researchers aimed to determine whether genetic predisposition to poor alcohol metabolism is related to the risk of incident AF. Data was collected from the UK Biobank. 399,329 participants were enrolled in 2006 and 2010 and followed for incident AF until 2021. Polygenic risk score (PRS) tertiles were used to categorize the participants based on their genetic predisposition to alcohol metabolism. Additionally, subjects were categorized as non-drinkers, mild-moderate drinkers (<30 g/day), and heavy drinkers (>30 g/day). During the study period, 19,239 participants were diagnosed with AF. Compared to non-drinkers, those who consumed mild-moderate quantities of alcohol were less likely to develop AF (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92-0.99). Conversely, heavy drinkers showed increased risk (HR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02-1.10). When considering the PRS tertiles, risk of AF was no different for mild-moderate drinkers, but heavy drinkers had increased AF risk in the lowest tertile group. A limitation of this study is that alcohol consumption was determined at the study onset, but researchers did not assess whether consumption changed over the follow up period. Overall, this study demonstrates that heavy drinkers with genetic predisposition to low alcohol metabolism were more susceptible to developing AF.

Click to read the study in BMC Medicine

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