Caffeine intake reduces incident atrial fibrillation at a population level

Abstract

Background The general belief is that caffeine increases the risk of hyperkinetic arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of chronic caffeine intake on incident atrial fibrillation in general population. Design and methods A population cohort of 1475 unselected men and women observed for 12 years and left free to intake food or beverages containing caffeine was studied. Subjects were stratified into tertiles of caffeine intake both in the whole cohort and after genotyping for the -163C > A polymorphism of the CYP1A2 gene, regulating caffeine metabolism. Results In the whole cohort, the 12-year incidence of atrial fibrillation was significantly lower in the third (2.2%) than in the first (10.2%) or second (5.7%) tertile of caffeine intake ( P < 0.001). The same trend was observed in all genotypes; the apparently steeper reduction of atrial fibrillation in slow caffeine metabolisers found at univariate analysis was proved wrong by multivariate Cox analysis. Age, chronic pulmonary disease, history of heart failure and of coronary artery disease, and systolic blood pressure - but not the genotype or the caffeine × CYP1A2 interaction term - were significant confounders of the association between incident atrial fibrillation and being in the third tertile of caffeine intake (hazard ratio 0.249, 95% confidence intervals 0.161-0.458, P < 0.01). Conclusions A higher caffeine intake (>165 mmol/day or > 320 mg/day) is associated with a lower incidence of atrial fibrillation in the 12-year epidemiological prospective setting based on the general population.

The Impact of Genetic Variations in ADORA2A in the Association between Caffeine Consumption and Sleep

“…For us, genetic variants for the cytochrome P450 1A 2 (CYP1A2), the main system responsible for caffeine metabolism, and variants for pro-inflammatory cytokines should be investigated. Indeed, mutations on the CYP1A2 gene were recently shown to influence abstract reasoning in a large population (1374 participants) under free caffeine intake in everyday life [36], and genetic variations of inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α have been associated in several studies with sleep disturbances [37] and susceptibility and severity of obstructive sleep apnea [38,39].…”

“…We planned in our future studies to analyze A2A receptors density, function or gene expression in human blood in relation with the three genotypes of rs2298383, rs4822492 and rs5751876 ADORA2A variants. It will be interesting in future studies to investigate in a large population of European ancestry sleep duration and risk of sleep complaints and disorders concomitantly with multiple candidate SNP including dopamine-and cytokines-related genes [39,46], and genes involved in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic of caffeine effects [35,36]. Also, analysis of changes in A2A receptors density, function or gene expression in human granulocytes under low and high doses of caffeine consumption will aid in understanding the relationship between genetic mutations and sleep complaints and disorders, and will have implications for the treatment of sleep complaints [47].…”

Inter‐Individual Variation in Cancer and Cardiometabolic Health Outcomes in Response to Coffee Consumption: A Critical Review

“…Of these, 24 studies were related to cancer ( Table 1 ), [ 17–40 ] and 50 studies to cardiometabolic diseases ( Table 2 ). [ 41–90 ]…”

The Coffee–Acrylamide Apparent Paradox: An Example of Why the Health Impact of a Specific Compound in a Complex Mixture Should Not Be Evaluated in Isolation

“…This positive association between the regular intake of moderate doses of coffee and the increased longevity and health quality with ageing is tightly related to the ability of coffee intake to decrease the risk of developing major age-releated chronic disorders, such as diabetes [ 175 , 176 , 177 , 178 , 179 , 180 ], cardiovascular diseases [ 150 , 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 , 185 , 186 , 187 , 188 ], stroke [ 189 , 190 , 191 , 192 ], depression and suicide [ 193 , 194 , 195 , 196 , 197 , 198 , 199 , 200 , 201 ], cognitive decline [ 202 , 203 , 204 , 205 , 206 , 207 ], and neurodegenerativce diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease [ 208 , 209 , 210 , 211 , 212 ] and Parkinson’s disease [ 213 , 214 , 215 , 216 , 217 , 218 ].…”