A new study at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, confirms that moderate alcohol consumption can protect against coronary heart disease. But only for the 15% of the population that have a particular genotype.
The study included 618 Swedes with coronary heart disease and a control group of 3,000 healthy subjects. The subjects were assigned to various categories based on the amount of alcohol they consumed (ethanol intake). Meanwhile, they were tested in order to identify a particular genotype (CETP TaqIB) that previous studies had found to play a role in the health benefits of alcohol consumption.
Protective effect The results, which have been published in Alcohol, confirm the findings of the earlier studies. Moderate consumption of alcohol helps protect people with the genotype against coronary heart disease.
"In other words, moderate drinking has a protective effect among only 15% of the general population," says Professor Dag Thelle, Professor Emeritus at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.
Sweeping advice Thus, the researchers believe that the advice frequently given about the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption is far too sweeping.
"Moderate drinking alone does not have a strong protective effect," says Professor Lauren Lissner, who also participated in the study. "Nor does this particular genotype. But the combination of the two appears to significantly reduce the risk of coronary heart disease."
Unknown mechanisms The genotype codes for the Cholesterylester transfer protein (CETP), which affects the 'good,' cardio-protective HDL cholesterol that helps remove excess lipids from the blood vessels. One hypothesis is that alcohol somehow affects the CETP in a way that benefits HDL cholesterol.
A second hypothesis is that alcohol contains healthy, protective antioxidants.
The researchers believe that one or both of the hypotheses may prove correct, but the mechanisms by which HDL cholesterol or antioxidants might act remain unknown.
"Our study represents a step in the right direction," Professor Thelle says, "but a lot more research is needed. Assuming that we are able to describe these mechanisms, it may be a simple matter one day to perform genetic testing and determine whether someone belongs to the lucky 15%. That would be useful to know when offering advice on healthy alcohol consumption. But the most important thing is to identify new means of using the body's resources to prevent coronary heart disease."

参考译文：
适量饮酒有益健康的说法终于从机制上得到证实。但这有一个小小的前提：你必须具有一个特定的基因类型，有点“残酷”的是，幸运者只占人口的15%。

大量研究证明了饮酒的各类健康危害，适量饮酒唯一得到证据支持的健康好处在于可以保护和预防冠心病的发生。证据主要集中在医学流行病学调查，机制可能是通过增加血液中的“好”胆固醇HDL，降低“坏”胆固醇来实现。

发表在酒精杂志上的一项来自瑞典哥德堡大学的研究，通过对618冠心病患者和3000名健康对照受试者酒精消费量和一种特定的基因型（CETP TaqIB）调查和测试，结果证实了先前的一项研究结论：适度饮酒对于保护冠状动脉心脏疾病的保护作用依赖于人们的基因型，只有CETP TaqIB基因型的人群才受到保护。

之前的研究发现，这种基因表达一种CETP转移蛋白影响“好”胆固醇HDL，已知HDL将胆固醇从外周转运至肝脏，从而清除和避免动脉内膜脂质斑块的形成，防止动脉粥样硬化的形成和发展。

但是，具有CETP TaqIB基因型的人口只占人群的15％，换言之，如果你想从酒精中获得保护，需要首先明确你有CETP TaqIB基因型。

对于酒精可以带来健康好处的另一种假说是认为乙醇可以作为一种抗氧化剂发挥保护作用，这一点没有得到实质性证据支持。

总体上说，喝酒尤其是大量饮酒对于健康的危害是全方位的，而适量饮酒唯一的健康好处就是减低冠心病机会，但是你必须是那15%幸运儿中的一份子。

原始来源：http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141110090723.htm