Associations between moderate alcohol consumption, brain iron, and cognition in UK Biobank participants

Author summary

Why was this study done

  • There is growing evidence that even moderate alcohol consumption negatively impacts the brain, but the mechanisms underlying this are unclear.
  • One possibility is that accumulation of iron in the brain could contribute, as higher brain iron has been described in numerous neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
  • To the best of our knowledge, there have been no studies investigating if brain iron levels differ by level of alcohol consumption.

What did the researchers do and find

  • In 20,965 participants in a United Kingdom cohort study, we explored relationships between self-reported alcohol consumption and brain iron levels, measured using magnetic resonance imaging.
  • We assessed the association of alcohol intake with blood and liver iron and cognitive measures associated with higher brain iron.
  • Alcohol consumption above 7 units (56 g) weekly was associated with markers of higher iron in the basal ganglia, which in turn associated with worse cognitive function.
  • These observational findings were further supported by analyses using genetic variants as proxies for alcohol consumption.

What do these findings mean

  • These findings suggest that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with higher iron levels in the brain.
  • Brain iron accumulation represents a potential mechanism for alcohol-related cognitive decline.
  • Key limitations are that changes in myelin may also alter imaging markers and alcohol intake was self-reported. It is unclear how our findings generalize to other populations, particularly those which are more ethnically diverse and socioeconomically deprived.

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