Background: Moderate alcohol consumption has been reported to be associated with a decreased risk of cardiometabolic diseases. Whether drinking pattern is associated with the risk of proteinuria is unknown.
Methods: Study subjects were 9154 non-diabetic Japanese men aged 40–55 years, with an estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m², no proteinuria, and no use of antihypertensive medications at entry. Data on alcohol consumption were obtained by questionnaire. We defined “consecutive proteinuria” as proteinuria detected twice consecutively as 1+ or higher on urine dipstick at annual examinations.
Results: During the 81 147 person-years follow-up period, 385 subjects developed consecutive proteinuria. For subjects who reported drinking 4–7 days per week, alcohol consumption of 0.1–23.0 g ethanol/drinking day was significantly associated with a decreased risk of consecutive proteinuria (hazard ratio [HR] 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36–0.80) compared with non-drinkers. However, alcohol consumption of ≥69.1 g ethanol/drinking day was significantly associated with an increased risk of consecutive proteinuria (HR 1.78; 95% CI, 1.01–3.14). For subjects who reported drinking 1–3 days per week, alcohol consumption of 0.1–23.0 g ethanol/drinking day was associated with a decreased risk of consecutive proteinuria (HR 0.76; 95% CI, 0.51–1.12), and alcohol consumption of ≥69.1 g ethanol/drinking day was associated with an increased risk of consecutive proteinuria (HR 1.58; 95% CI, 0.72–3.46), but these associations did not reach statistical significance.
Conclusions: Men with frequent alcohol consumption of 0.1–23.0 g ethanol/drinking day had the lowest risk of consecutive proteinuria, while those with frequent alcohol consumption of ≥69.1 g ethanol/drinking day had an increased risk of consecutive proteinuria.