Alcohol Consumption and Urinary Estrogens and Estrogen Metabolites in Premenopausal Women

Abstract

In a cross-sectional analysis, we evaluated the associations of usual total alcohol and wine intake with a comprehensive profile of mid-luteal phase urinary estrogens and estrogen metabolites (referred to jointly as EM) in a sample of 603 premenopausal women participating in the Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII). A total of 15 individual EM (pmol/mg creatinine) were measured by a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method with high accuracy and reproducibility. We used linear mixed models to calculate the adjusted geometric means of individual EM, EM grouped by metabolic pathways, and pathway ratios by category of alcohol intake with non-drinkers of alcohol as the referent. Total alcohol intake was not associated with total EM but was positively associated with estradiol (26 % higher among women consuming >15 g/day vs. non-drinkers; P trend=0.03). Wine consumption was positively associated with a number of EM measures including estradiol (22 % higher among women consuming ≥5 drinks/week vs. non-drinkers, P trend < 0.0001). In conclusion, the total alcohol intake was positively and significantly associated with urinary estradiol levels. Some differences in urinary estrogen metabolites were observed with wine drinking, when compared with non-drinkers. This study strengthens the evidence that alcohol consumption might play a role in breast cancer and other estrogen-related conditions. Additional studies of premenopausal women are needed to further explore the association of alcohol, particularly the specific types of alcohol, on patterns of estrogen metabolism in blood, urine, and tissue.

Outdoor light at night and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the NIH‐AARP diet and health study

“…Moreover, the association was also stronger among women reporting one or more drinks per day. Smoking is associated with lower melatonin levels, 35 while alcohol, a known risk factor for breast cancer, 36 can increase circulating estrogen levels 37 . It is possible that LAN may interact synergistically with smoking and/or alcohol to influence melatonin and estrogen pathways, which subsequently have a greater impact on postmenopausal breast cancer risk.…”

Handgrip Strength and Its Associated Factors among Community-dwelling Elderly in Sri Lanka: A Cross-sectional Study

“…Our results show that female participants who consumed alcohol had better HGS; this contradicts with the current evidence. Probably, alcohol consumption boosts the low level of estrogen among old women, which could be helpful in enhancement of muscle strength [19,20]. In addition, these female older people who consumed alcohol were likely from the estate sector, worked in the tea plantation (plucking tea leaves), which trained them to have better HGS.…”

Alcohol and oestrogen metabolites in postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study

“…How alcohol associates with different oestrogen hydroxylation pathways among postmenopausal women, however, is unknown. A recent analysis evaluated associations of alcohol intake with parent oestrogen/oestrogen metabolites, although women were pre-menopausal and metabolites were measured in urine (Hartman et al , 2016). Alcohol intake was only associated with oestradiol, but not other parent oestrogens/metabolites.…”

“…Studies that explore the relationship between alcohol intake and oestrogen metabolism that include oestrogen pathway metabolites are limited (Hartman et al , 2016), and none, to our knowledge, have been conducted among postmenopausal women. Our objective was to examine associations of circulating serum oestrogen/oestrogen metabolite concentrations (in conjugated and unconjugated forms) with alcohol consumption, stratified by menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use, in postmenopausal women participating in a nested case-control study within the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study (OS).…”