Circulating microRNAs and alcohol consumption in the Multiethnic Cohort Study.

Excessive alcohol consumption is a significant public health concern and contributes to liver diseases and cancer. Modifiable lifestyle factors including alcohol consumption can influence circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), which are increasingly used as biomarkers for early disease detection. Yet limited studies have identified miRNAs associated with alcohol intake, particularly in multiethnic populations. We aimed to assess the association of alcohol consumption and circulating miRNAs in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Participants (N = 917) had alcohol consumption data collected at baseline and miRNA data collected at follow-up. Negative binomial models were used to assess the association between alcohol consumption (continuous and categorical [nondrinkers: 0 g of ethanol/day; light drinkers: <28 g of ethanol/day for men and <14 g of ethanol/day for women; and heavy drinkers: ≥28 g of ethanol/day for men and ≥14 g of ethanol/day for women]) and miRNAs. Stratified analyses also examined categories by sex, race/ethnicity, smoking status, and body mass index. Overall, there were 52% non-drinkers, 37 % light drinkers, and 11 % were heavy drinkers. We did not detect an association of miRNAs with alcohol intake in continuous models after correcting for multiple comparisons. However, we did find an inverse association for light drinkers [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.59, p = 8.21E-04] and heavy drinkers (IRR = 0.44, p = 1.47E-03) compared to nondrinkers for miR-451a. Additionally, miR-320e (IRR = 0.63, p = 1.61E-03) had an inverse association with alcohol intake for light drinkers compared to nondrinkers. Subgroup analysis also suggested there were differences by subgroups, underscoring that miRNAs used to detect chronic diseases may be subgroup specific. When stratified by case-control status, we found that among controls both light and heavy drinkers were associated with miR-451a. We identified an association for light and heavy drinkers with miR-451a and mir-320e, miRNAs associated with cancers and liver diseases, in comparison to nondrinkers.