Lipid profile and alcoholism

Abstract

Background: Alcoholism is a major threat to public health in both developed and developing countries. Alcohol has many effects on lipid profile, including inducing de novo fatty acid synthesis and inhibiting fatty acid oxidation in liver. Aim of this study was to study the effect of alcohol consumption on serum lipid profile in alcoholics and to compare with those of non-alcoholic controls.Methods: 100 cases and 100 age and sex matched controls were selected. These subjects were classified into, 1. Moderate alcoholics: Consuming ≤210 g per week 2. Heavy alcoholics: Consuming >210 g per week. Blood was taken in fasting state and lipids were estimated.Results: Among 200 subjects, 94% were male. 58.5% of the male and 83.3% of the female were heavy drinkers. Maximum number of alcoholics were seen in the age group of 41-50 years. The height correlated well with both control and study group. The moderate dose alcoholics had a higher weight when compared to control group and heavy dose alcoholics. The heavy dose alcoholics had a lower BMI when compared with the control group and moderate dose alcoholics. Heavy dose alcohol consumption was associated with a higher increase in triglyceride level. The total cholesterol level was significantly higher in the heavy dose alcoholics when compared with the control group. The HDL level was highest in the moderate dose alcoholics. The LDL level was highest in heavy dose alcoholics whereas, the moderate dose alcoholics had a lesser LDL level when compared with the control group. The VLDL level steadily increased with alcohol consumption.Conclusions: Patients with heavy alcohol consumption had significant increase in total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and VLDL. The moderate alcohol consumers had significantly increased HDL and decreased LDL. These protective effects declined after heavy alcohol consumption.