Background

Several cross-sectional studies have examined whether the relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure (alcohol-BP relationship) differs among individuals with different aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) genotypes, but few studies have examined the association with alcohol dehydrogenase-2 (ADH2), and those have yielded inconsistent results. We examined the potential modulatory effects of ADH2 and ALDH2 genotypes on the alcohol-BP relationship in a cross-sectional sample of a Japanese rural community.

Methods and results

The study subjects were 335 randomly selected men aged 40-69 years, who lived in Shiso, a Japanese rural county, in 1999 or 2000. The genetic polymorphisms of ADH2 and ALDH2 were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods. The frequencies of ADH21/21 (wild-type), 21/22 (superactive heterozygotes), and 22/22 (superactive homozygotes) were 8.4, 34.9 and 56.7%, respectively; and those of ALDH21/21 (wild-type), 21/22 (inactive heterozygotes), and 22/22 (inactive homozygotes) were 52.8, 40.9, and 6.3%, respectively. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that the relationship between alcohol consumption and diastolic blood pressure was significantly stronger in men with ADH21/21 than those with ADH21/22 or 22/22 (adjusted regression coefficient = 0.0392 versus 0.0113 mmHg for + 1 g ethanol/week, P for difference in slope = 0.018). The strength of the alcohol-BP relationship was similar in all of the ALDH2 genotype groups.

Conclusion

The alcohol-BP relationship was significantly stronger in men with ADH21/21 than in men with ADH21/22 or 22/22 in this Japanese rural population. This finding was exactly the opposite of what one previous study suggested.