ArticleAlcohol, clinical & experimental research2023
Alcohol and vascular endothelial function: Biphasic effect highlights the importance of dose.
Article in Alcohol, clinical & experimental research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and Safety of Suxiao Jiuxin Pills in the Treatment of Chronic Coronary Syndrome with Intolerance to Adverse Effects of Long-acting Nitrates: A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Trial
- A biphasic effect of alcohol on endothelial plasticity through regulation of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2026Article
- Alcohol and Hypertension-A Fresh Look on the Mechanistic Aspects of a Fatal Epidemiologic Relationship.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Interpreting the Evidence on Wine Consumption and Health: A Narrative Review of the J-Shaped Association and Contemporary Alcohol Guidelines.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Alcohol Metabolism into Acetaldehyde in Developing Cerebral Arteries.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Sigma-1 receptors, alcohol consumption, and arterial tone: a new intersection in cardiovascular physiology.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2026Article
- Multicellular Model Reveals the Mechanism of AEE Alleviating Vascular Endothelial Cell Injury via Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Alcohol Consumption and Acute Coronary Syndrome: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Perspectives.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- New developments on the effects of alcohol use on immunity, inflammation and organ function: A summary of the 2024 Alcohol and Immunology Research Interest Group (AIRIG) meeting.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Endothelial Homeostasis Under the Influence of Alcohol-Relevance to Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Mechanisms of Acetaldehyde-Induced Organ Injury via Impairment of Vascular Endothelial Cells.Vascular health and risk management · 2025Review
- Alcohol consumption may be a risk factor for cerebrovascular stenosis in acute ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack.BMC neurology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlcohol (ethanol) consumption has different influences on arterial disease, being protective or harmful depending on the amount and pattern of consumption. The mechanisms mediating these biphasic effects are unknown. Whereas endothelial cells play a critical role in maintaining arterial health, this study compared the effects of moderate and high alcohol concentrations on endothelial cell function.
methodsHuman coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) were treated with levels of ethanol associated with either low-risk/moderate drinking (i.e., 25 mM) or high-risk/heavy drinking (i.e., 50 mM) after which endothelial function was assessed. The effect of ethanol's primary metabolite acetaldehyde (10 and 25 μM) was also determined.
resultsModerate ethanol exposure (25 mM) improved HCAEC barrier integrity as determined by increased transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER), inhibited cell adhesion molecule (CAM) mRNA expression, decreased inflammatory cytokine (interferon-γ and interleukin 6) production, inhibited monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) expression and monocyte adhesion, and increased homeostatic Notch signaling. In contrast, exposure to high-level ethanol (50 mM) decreased TEER, increased CAM expression and inflammatory cytokine production, and stimulated MCP-1 and monocyte adhesion, with no effect on Notch signaling. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity were increased by both alcohol treatments, and to a greater extent in the 50 mM ethanol group. Acetaldehyde-elicited responses were generally the same as those of the high-level ethanol group.
conclusionsEthanol has biphasic effects on several endothelial functions such that a moderate level maintains the endothelium in a nonactivated state, whereas high-level ethanol causes endothelial dysfunction, as does acetaldehyde. These data show the importance of dose when considering ethanol's effects on arterial endothelium, and could explain, in part, the J-shaped relationship between alcohol concentration and atherosclerosis reported in some epidemiologic studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.