The impact of long-term moderate and heavy alcohol consumption on incident atherosclerosis among persons living with HIV

Background Level of alcohol consumption is associated with differential risk of atherosclerosis, but little research has investigated this association among HIV+ persons. We evaluated the association between long-term alcohol use and incident atherosclerosis among HIV+ persons. Methods We utilized data from HIV+ participants of the Women's Interagency HIV Study (n = 483) and the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (n = 305) without history of cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosis was assessed two times by B-mode carotid artery ultrasound imaging from 2004 to 2013. Presence of plaque was defined as focal carotid intima-media thickness over 1.5 mm. Those with no plaque at baseline and plaque at follow-up were considered incident cases of atherosclerosis. Group-based trajectory models were used to categorize participants into 10-year drinking patterns representing heavy, moderate, or abstinent-low. Multivariable logistic regressions were conducted to assess the association of long-term moderate and heavy use on atherosclerosis, compared to abstinent-low. Results Heavy alcohol consumption was not statistically significantly associated with risk for incident atherosclerosis in women (AOR 1.10, CI 0.40–3.02) or men (AOR 1.31, CI 0.43–4.00), compared to abstinence-low. Moderate consumption was associated with 54% lower odds for incident disease in men (AOR 0.46, CI 0.21–1.00), but not in women (AOR 1.08, CI 0.58–2.00). In cohort-combined analyses, alcohol consumption was not statistically significantly association with incident atherosclerosis (moderate AOR 0.78, CI 0.48–1.27; heavy AOR 1.33, CI 0.66–2.69). Conclusion Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a significant protective effect on incident atherosclerosis in men only. No other levels of alcohol consumption significantly predicted atherosclerosis in men and women compared to abstinent-low.