A new study at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, confirms that moderate alcohol consumption can protect against coronary heart disease. But only for the 15% of the population that have a particular genotype.
The study included 618 Swedes with coronary heart disease and a control group of 3,000 healthy subjects. The subjects were assigned to various categories based on the amount of alcohol they consumed (ethanol intake). Meanwhile, they were tested in order to identify a particular genotype (CETP TaqIB) that previous studies had found to play a role in the health benefits of alcohol consumption.
Protective effect The results, which have been published in Alcohol, confirm the findings of the earlier studies. Moderate consumption of alcohol helps protect people with the genotype against coronary heart disease.
"In other words, moderate drinking has a protective effect among only 15% of the general population," says Professor Dag Thelle, Professor Emeritus at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.
Sweeping advice Thus, the researchers believe that the advice frequently given about the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption is far too sweeping.
"Moderate drinking alone does not have a strong protective effect," says Professor Lauren Lissner, who also participated in the study. "Nor does this particular genotype. But the combination of the two appears to significantly reduce the risk of coronary heart disease."
Unknown mechanisms The genotype codes for the Cholesterylester transfer protein (CETP), which affects the 'good,' cardio-protective HDL cholesterol that helps remove excess lipids from the blood vessels. One hypothesis is that alcohol somehow affects the CETP in a way that benefits HDL cholesterol.
A second hypothesis is that alcohol contains healthy, protective antioxidants.
The researchers believe that one or both of the hypotheses may prove correct, but the mechanisms by which HDL cholesterol or antioxidants might act remain unknown.
"Our study represents a step in the right direction," Professor Thelle says, "but a lot more research is needed. Assuming that we are able to describe these mechanisms, it may be a simple matter one day to perform genetic testing and determine whether someone belongs to the lucky 15%. That would be useful to know when offering advice on healthy alcohol consumption. But the most important thing is to identify new means of using the body's resources to prevent coronary heart disease."

參考譯文：
適量飲酒有益健康的說法終于從機(jī)制上得到證實。但這有一個小小的前提：你必須具有一個特定的基因類型，有點“殘酷”的是，幸運者只占人口的15%。

大量研究證明了飲酒的各類健康危害，適量飲酒唯一得到證據(jù)支持的健康好處在于可以保護(hù)和預(yù)防冠心病的發(fā)生。證據(jù)主要集中在醫(yī)學(xué)流行病學(xué)調(diào)查，機(jī)制可能是通過增加血液中的“好”膽固醇HDL，降低“壞”膽固醇來實現(xiàn)。

發(fā)表在酒精雜志上的一項來自瑞典哥德堡大學(xué)的研究，通過對618冠心病患者和3000名健康對照受試者酒精消費量和一種特定的基因型（CETP TaqIB）調(diào)查和測試，結(jié)果證實了先前的一項研究結(jié)論：適度飲酒對于保護(hù)冠狀動脈心臟疾病的保護(hù)作用依賴于人們的基因型，只有CETP TaqIB基因型的人群才受到保護(hù)。

之前的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種基因表達(dá)一種CETP轉(zhuǎn)移蛋白影響“好”膽固醇HDL，已知HDL將膽固醇從外周轉(zhuǎn)運至肝臟，從而清除和避免動脈內(nèi)膜脂質(zhì)斑塊的形成，防止動脈粥樣硬化的形成和發(fā)展。

但是，具有CETP TaqIB基因型的人口只占人群的15％，換言之，如果你想從酒精中獲得保護(hù)，需要首先明確你有CETP TaqIB基因型。

對于酒精可以帶來健康好處的另一種假說是認(rèn)為乙醇可以作為一種抗氧化劑發(fā)揮保護(hù)作用，這一點沒有得到實質(zhì)性證據(jù)支持。

總體上說，喝酒尤其是大量飲酒對于健康的危害是全方位的，而適量飲酒唯一的健康好處就是減低冠心病機(jī)會，但是你必須是那15%幸運兒中的一份子。

原始來源：http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141110090723.htm