Abstract Body: Introduction: The role of alcohol consumption as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis remains controversial. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a recognized marker of atherosclerosis and can serve as a predictor of cardiovascular events. This study aims to explore the impact of alcohol consumption on CIMT across different genders and assess the variations in this relationship.

Method: We analyzed data from 31,239 participants in the UK Biobank, categorizing them based on their average weekly alcohol consumption into the following groups: never drinkers, former drinkers, light drinkers (≤112g/week), and moderate-heavy drinkers(>112g/week). CIMT measurements were grouped into quartiles. Ordered logistic regression was employed to examine the association between alcohol consumption and CIMT in males and females.

Result: The study included 16,342 males (52.3%) and 14,897 females (47.7%). Among never-drinking males, 95 (31.6%) were in the lowest CIMT quartile and 57 (18.9%) were in the highest quartile, while among moderate-heavy male drinkers, 2,541 (24.1%) were in the lowest quartile and 2,746 (26.0%) were in the highest quartile. For never-drinking females, 146 (26.1%) were in the lowest CIMT quartile and 153 (27.4%) in the highest, compared to 1,608 (24.9%) in the lowest and 1,584 (24.5%) in the highest quartile among moderate-heavy female drinkers. Multivariate ordered logistic regression showed that moderate-heavy male drinkers had a significantly increased risk of CIMT thickening compared to never drinkers in the fully adjusted model [OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.02-1.55]. However, this association was not significant in females [OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.89-1.24](table).

Conclusion: Moderate-heavy alcohol consumption (>112g/week) is an independent risk factor for increased CIMT in males, even after adjusting for potential confounders. However, this association was not observed in females. These findings suggest a gender-specific impact of alcohol consumption on atherosclerotic risk, warranting further investigation.