Abstract
Moderate wine consumption has been associated with reduced cardiovascular (CV) risk, but most investigations have been conducted in Caucasian populations. To investigate the relationship of wine consumption to CV risk markers, we studied a multi-ethnic sample of middle-aged, healthy women (N = 2900; 48% white, 28% black, 7% Hispanic, 8% Chinese, 9% Japanese) participating in SWAN over 7 years with repeated assessments of CV risk factors. Consumption of wine was stable and common with 20% reporting none, 69% light (<1/day), 7% moderate (= 1/day), and 4% heavy (>1/day). To guard against underreporting, we took the maximum reported wine consumption over 7 years as the predictor. We used mixed models with a random intercept and random time to assess the relationship between wine consumption and CV risk factors with moderate consumption as the reference. Outcome variables were log-transformed where necessary. Longitudinal models were adjusted for ethnicity, age, and time-varying menopausal status, hormone therapy use, overall alcohol consumption, high density lipoprotein (HDL), statin use, and a healthy lifestyle score based on physical activity, not smoking, and weight maintenance. Interactions of wine consumption with time were not significant. Moderate wine consumers had significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP, p < .001), fibrinogen (p < .001), factor VII (p < .01), and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1, p < .05) than women who drank no or little wine. These associations were independent of significant effects of healthy lifestyle and overall alcohol consumption and similar across ethnic groups. Moderate wine consumption may protect against CVD via inflammatory and clotting pathways.