Moderate alcohol consumption and levels of antioxidant vitamins and isoprostanes in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Background: Although alcohol intake has been positively associated with breast cancer risk in epidemiologic studies, the mechanisms mediating this association are speculative. Objective: The Postmenopausal Women's Alcohol Study was designed to explore the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on potential risk factors for breast cancer. In the present analysis, we evaluated the relationship of alcohol consumption with antioxidant nutrients and a biomarker of oxidative stress. Design: Participants (n ¼ 53) consumed a controlled diet plus each of three treatments (15 or 30 g alcohol/day or a no-alcohol placebo beverage), during three 8-week periods in random order. We measured the antioxidants, vitamin E (alpha (a)-and gamma (g)-tocopherols), selenium, and vitamin C in fasting blood samples which were collected at the end of diet periods, treated and frozen for assay at the end of the study. We also measured 15-F 2t -IsoP isoprostane, produced by lipid peroxidation, which serves as an indicator of oxidative stress and may serve as a biomarker for conditions favorable to carcinogenesis. Results: After adjusting for BMI (all models) and total serum cholesterol (tocopherol and isoprostane models) we observed a significant 4.6% decrease (P ¼ 0.02) in a-tocopherol and a marginally significant 4.9% increase (P ¼ 0.07) in isoprostane levels when women consumed 30 g alcohol/day (P ¼ 0.06 and 0.05 for overall effect of alcohol on a-tocopherol and isoprostanes, respectively). The other antioxidants were not significantly modified by the alcohol treatment. Conclusions: These results suggest that moderate alcohol consumption increases some biomarkers of oxidative stress in postmenopausal women. Sponsorship: NCI, NIH and ARS, USDA.

Cholesterol-Depleting Statin Drugs Protect Postmitotically Differentiated Human Neurons against Ethanol- and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Induced Oxidative Stress In Vitro

“…In accordance with this, elevated levels of isoprostanes have been detected in situations associated with increased free radical generation, in HIV-1-infected individuals, in postmenopausal women, and in chronic cigarette smokers (33,53). Similarly, increased production of arachidonic acid from different sources associated with various pathological conditions has been reported (47).…”

“…The detection of isoprostanes in vivo is used as a quantitative index for the existence of oxidative stress and also as a biomarker for certain types of diseases, such as cancer (33,79). In accordance with this, elevated levels of isoprostanes have been detected in situations associated with increased free radical generation, in HIV-1-infected individuals, in postmenopausal women, and in chronic cigarette smokers (33,53).…”

“…Besides Hsp70 levels, we also determined the levels of 8-iso-PGF-2␣, a major isoprostane, and a universally accepted oxidative stress marker produced by the nonenzymatic free radical-induced peroxidation of arachidonic acid present in phospholipids (55). The increased production of 8-iso-PGF-2␣ is usually associated with pathological conditions known to involve a heightened state of oxidative stress (33,79). Coculturing of HIV-1-infected monocytes or T cells with postmitotically differentiated neurons with or without alcohol was performed as described above.…”

Role of Lipid Peroxidation in the Epidemiology and Prevention of Breast Cancer

“…In addition, recent studies have consistently shown that red wine and white wine also have beneficial effects in vivo on blood antioxidant activity (71,72,75,159). However, alcohol has also been found to exhibit a pro-oxidant effect (72,74,160). Some studies suggest that the antioxidant or pro-oxidant activities of alcoholic beverages may depend on factors, such as dose, ethanol content, polyphenol content, ethanol metabolism, and cell type (73,(161)(162)(163)(164)(165), but this is still unclear.…”

Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Associated with Traffic Exhaust: The Increase of Lipid Peroxidation and Reduction of Antioxidant Capacity

“…Several previous studies have applied urinary isoprostane as biomarkers of oxidative stress in general. The formation of isoprostane is related to personal factors (age) (Dohi et al, 2007), occupational exposure (welding fume) (Han et al, 2005), life style (vitamin C, vitamin E supplementation (Huang et al, 2002), smoking, (Dietrich et al, 2002;Dietrich et al, 2003), vegetable and fruit intake (Thompson et al, 2005), and alcohol consumption (Hartman et al, 2005), and occurrence of chronic diseases (asthma, atherosclerosis, ischemia-reperfusion, cardiovascular disease (Cracowski, 2004), systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory rheumatic disease, diabetes mellitus (Cracowski et al, 2002), and breast cancer (Rossner et al, 2006). Il'yasova et al (2004) indicated that ELISA measurements overestimates F2-Isoprostane levels than the GC/MS measurements.…”