The Association of Alcohol Consumption with Glaucoma and Related Traits
Kelsey V. Stuart, Robert Luben, Alasdair Warwick, Kian Madjedi, Praveen J. Patel, Mahantesh I. Biradar, Zihan Sun, Mark A. Chia, Louis R. Pasquale, Janey L. Wiggs, Jae H. Kang, Jihye Kim, Hugues Aschard, Jessica Tran, Marleen A. H. Lentjes, Paul J. Foster, Anthony P. Khawaja, Hugues Aschard, Mark A. Chia, Sharon Chua, Ron Do, Paul J. Foster, Jae H. Kang, Alan Kastner, Anthony P. Khawaja, Jihye Kim, Marleen A. H. Lentjes, Robert Luben, Kian Madjedi, Giovanni Montesano, Louis R. Pasquale, Kelsey V. Stuart, Alasdair Warwick, Janey L. Wiggs, Naomi E. Allen, Tariq Aslam, Denize Atan, Sarah Barman, Jenny Barrett, Paul Bishop, Graeme C. Black, Tasanee Braithwaite, Roxana O. Carare, Usha Chakravarthy, Michelle Chan, Sharon Chua, Alexander Day, Parul Desai, Bal Dhillon, Andrew D. Dick, Alex S. F. Doney, Cathy Egan, Sarah Ennis, Paul J. Foster, Marcus Fruttiger, John Gallacher, David F. Garway‐Heath, Jane Whitney Gibson, Jeremy A. Guggenheim, Christopher J. Hammond, Alison J. Hardcastle, Simon Harding, Ruth Hogg, Pirro G. Hysi, Pearse A. Keane, Peng T. Khaw, Anthony P. Khawaja, Gerassimos Lascaratos, Thomas J. Littlejohns, Andrew Lotery, Philip J. Luthert, Tom MacGillivray, Sarah Mackie, Bernadette McGuinness, Gareth J. McKay, Martin McKibbin, Tony Moore, James P. Morgan, Eoin O’Sullivan, Richard A. Oram, Christopher G. Owen, Praveen J. Patel, Euan Paterson, Tünde Pető, Axel Petzold, Nikolas Pontikos, Jugnoo S. Rahi, Alicja R. Rudnicka, Naveed Sattar, Jay Self, Panagiotis I. Sergouniotis, Sobha Sivaprasad, David Steel, Irene Stratton, Nicholas G. Strouthidis, Cathie Sudlow, Zihan Sun, Robyn J. Tapp, Dhanes Thomas, Emanuele Trucco
Abstract
To examine the associations of alcohol consumption with glaucoma and related traits, to assess whether a genetic predisposition to glaucoma modified these associations, and to perform Mendelian randomization (MR) experiments to probe causal effects. Cross-sectional observational and gene–environment interaction analyses in the UK Biobank. Two-sample MR experiments using summary statistics from large genetic consortia. UK Biobank participants with data on intraocular pressure (IOP) (n = 109 097), OCT-derived macular inner retinal layer thickness measures (n = 46 236) and glaucoma status (n = 173 407). Participants were categorized according to self-reported drinking behaviors. Quantitative estimates of alcohol intake were derived from touchscreen questionnaires and food composition tables. We performed a 2-step analysis, first comparing categories of alcohol consumption (never, infrequent, regular, and former drinkers) before assessing for a dose-response effect in regular drinkers only. Multivariable linear, logistic, and restricted cubic spline regression, adjusted for key sociodemographic, medical, anthropometric, and lifestyle factors, were used to examine associations. We assessed whether any association was modified by a multitrait glaucoma polygenic risk score. The inverse-variance weighted method was used for the main MR analyses. Intraocular pressure, macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL) thickness, macular ganglion cell–inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL) thickness, and prevalent glaucoma. Compared with infrequent drinkers, regular drinkers had higher IOP (+0.17 mmHg; P < 0.001) and thinner mGCIPL (-0.17 μm; P = 0.049), whereas former drinkers had a higher prevalence of glaucoma (odds ratio, 1.53; P = 0.002). In regular drinkers, alcohol intake was adversely associated with all outcomes in a dose-dependent manner (all P < 0.001). Restricted cubic spline regression analyses suggested nonlinear associations, with apparent threshold effects at approximately 50 g (∼6 UK or 4 US alcoholic units)/week for mRNFL and mGCIPL thickness. Significantly stronger alcohol–IOP associations were observed in participants at higher genetic susceptibility to glaucoma (Pinteraction < 0.001). Mendelian randomization analyses provided evidence for a causal association with mGCIPL thickness. Alcohol intake was consistently and adversely associated with glaucoma and related traits, and at levels below current United Kingdom (< 112 g/week) and United States (women, < 98 g/week; men, < 196 g/week) guidelines. Although we cannot infer causality definitively, these results will be of interest to people with or at risk of glaucoma and their advising physicians. Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.