Moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Although the mechanisms involved in this relationship are not entirely clear, it has been suggested that reduced levels of markers of inflammation and improvements in endothelial function observed with moderate alcohol consumption may play a role. Therefore, Beulens et al. sought to verify the contribution of alcohol consumption to the development of type 2 diabetes in a nested case-control study of 705 women with incident diabetes and 787 matched controls from the Nurses’ Health Study. Markers of inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and fasting insulin levels were taken into account. Results showed that only adiponectin significantly accounted (24%) for the relationship between alcohol consumption and type 2 diabetes, whereas C-reactive protein, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, E-selectin, tumor necrosis factor-a receptor 2, interleukin-6, and fasting insulin accounted for less than 2% of this association. Further studies will be necessary to better understand the contribution of other biomarkers that may be affected by alcohol consumption.
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