Mechanisms of protective effects of moderate alcohol consumption on the cardiovascular system

Abstract

Consumption of alcoholic beverages has been known in many cultures since the ancient civilizations, so harmful consequences of excessive alcohol intake have been well explained. Many epidemiological studies confirmed lower morbidity and mortality rates of cardiovascular diseases in persons who drink alcohol "moderately" (1-2 drinks a day), independently of the kind of alcoholic beverage. This paper presents the review of molecular mechanisms that are believed to explain cardioprotective effect of moderate drinking-alcohol effects on lipoproteins, endothelial cells, blood clot formation and dissolution, as well as genetic and gender variances modifying the relation. A simple recommendation regarding the increase of alcohol consumption cannot be made on population level. The professionals must therefore concentrate on other preventive methods in order to reduce other significant risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.Alkoholna pica ce u ishrani ljudi koriste hiljadama godina, a stetne posledice preteranog konzumiranja alkohola dobro su poznate. Mnogobrojne studije iz epidemiologije, medjutim, ukazale su na smanjenje stope mortaliteta i morbiditeta od kardiovaskularnih bolesti kod osoba koje ?umereno" konzumiraju alkohol (jedno pice do dva pica dnevno) bez obzira na vrstu alkoholnog pica.Ovaj rad je pregled poznatih efekata alkohola na molekulskom nivou kojima on verovatno ostvaruje protektivno dejstvo na kardiovaskularni sistem - na lipoproteine krvi, funkciju endotelnih celija i procese stvaranja i razgradnje tromba u okviru genetskih faktora i polnih razlika. Iako nije opravdano promovisati povecanje konzumiranja alkohola,treba mere prevencije usmeriti na smanjenje drugih faktora rizika za pojavu kardiovaskularnih bolesti.