Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

No controversial role of alcohol consumption in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 72, pages 305–306 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

We have read the letter by Dr. Yang et al. [1] on our article No association of alcohol use and the risk of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease: data from a European Prospective cohort study (EPIC) [2], where they advocate for an association between alcohol consumption and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), based on the results of a large case–control study [3] and a large retrospective population-based cohort study [4].

IBD is suggested to be a consequence of a dysfunctional immune response to dysregulated gut microbiome in genetically susceptible individuals, triggered by environmental factors [5]. Many of these environmental factors (diet, tobacco) have been largely studied, but the effect of alcohol on IBD risk is poorly understood and studies give contradictory results [6].

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Yang XY, Wei WB, Zeng LR, He JH, Chen PF. Controversial role of alcohol consumption in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-017-0045-2.

  2. Bergmann MM, Hernandez V, Bernigau W, Boeing H, Chan SS, Luben R, et al. No association of alcohol use and the risk of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease: data from a European Prospective cohort study (EPIC). Eur J Clin Nutr. 2017;71:512–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.271.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Wang YF, Ou-Yang Q, Xia B, Liu LN, Gu F, Zhou KF, et al. Multicenter case-control study of the risk factors for ulcerative colitis in China. World J Gastroenterol. 2013;19:1827–33. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v19.i11.1827.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Hsu TY, Shih HM, Wang YC, Lin LC, He GY, Chen CY, et al. Effect of alcoholic intoxication on the risk of inflammatory bowel disease: a nationwide retrospective cohort study. PLoS ONE. 2016;11:e0165411. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165411.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Zhou M, He J, Shen Y, Zhang C, Wang J, Chen Y. New frontiers in genetics, gut microbiota, and immunity: a rosetta stone for the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:8201672. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8201672

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Maaser C, Langholz E, Gordon H, Burisch J, Ellul P, Ramirez VH, et al. European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation topical review on environmental factors in IBD. J Crohn’s Colitis 2017;11:905–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjw223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Nakarnura Y, Labarthe DR. A case-control study of ulcerative colitis with relation to smoking habits and alcohol consumption in Japan. Am J Epidemiol. 1994;140:902–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Samuelsson SM, Ekbom A, Zack M, Helmick CG, Adami HO. Risk factors for extensive ulcerative colitis and ulcerative proctitis: a population based case-control study. Gut. 1991;32:1526–30.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Rehm J, Irving H, Ye Y, Kerr WC, Bond J, Greenfield TK. Are lifetime abstainers the best control group in alcohol epidemiology? On the stability and validity of reported lifetime abstention. Am J Epidemiol. 2008;168:866–71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Porter CK, Welsh M, Riddle MS, et al. Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease among participants of the Millennium Cohort: incidence, deployment-related risk factors, and antecedent episodes of infectious gastroenteritis. Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics 2017;45(8):1115–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.13991.

  11. Dawson DA. Methodological issues in measuring alcohol use. Alcohol Res Health. 2003;27:18–29.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Ng SC, Tang W, Ching JY, Wong M, Chow CM, Hui AJ, et al. Incidence and phenotype of inflammatory bowel disease based on results from the Asia-pacific Crohn’s and colitis epidemiology study. Gastroenterology 2013;145:158–65e2. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2013.04.007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Kaplan GG, Ng SC. Understanding and preventing the global increase of inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology 2017;152:313–21e2. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2016.10.020.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Potsdam, Germany

    Manuela M. Bergmann

  2. Department of Gastroenterology Instituto de Investigación Biomédica, Estrutura Organizativa de Xestión Integrada de Vigo, Vigo, Spain

    Vicent Hernandez

  3. Norwich Medical School, Department of Medicine, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Andrew Hart

  4. Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust, Norwich, UK

    Andrew Hart

Authors
  1. Manuela M. Bergmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vicent Hernandez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrew Hart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manuela M. Bergmann.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bergmann, M.M., Hernandez, V. & Hart, A. No controversial role of alcohol consumption in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 305–306 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-017-0045-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-017-0045-2

Search

Advanced search

Quick links