Alcohol consumption is inversely associated with the risk of developing chronic kidney disease

There are few reports of associations between alcohol consumption and risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). To investigate this further, we studied 5476 participants aged 28-75 years in the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-Stage Disease (PREVEND) study, a prospective population-based cohort, who were free of CKD at baseline (1997/1998). Alcohol consumption was self-reported on a questionnaire validated against serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The primary outcome was de novo CKD defined as a combination of a creatinine-cystatin C-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) under 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 and/or the mean of two consecutive 24-h urinary albumin excretions over 30 mg. During four serial follow-up examinations (median 10.2 years until February 2012), 903 participants developed CKD. Compared with those abstaining from alcohol, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for CKD risk were 0.85 (0.69-1.04) for occasional (under 10 g/week), 0.82 (0.69-0.98) for light (10-69.9 g/week), 0.71 (0.58-0.88) for moderate (70-210 g/week), and 0.60 (0.42-0.86) for heavier (over 210 g/week) alcohol consumers (significant trend). Similar inverse associations for alcohol consumption were found when CKD was defined as eGFR <60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 or as 24-h urinary albumin excretion over 30 mg. Thus, in this population-based cohort, alcohol consumption was inversely associated with the risk of developing CKD.