The Association of Alcohol Consumption with Glaucoma and Related Traits Findings from the UK Biobank

Last updated:

19 November 2025

Author(s):

Kelsey V. Stuart, Robert N. Luben, Alasdair N. Warwick, Kian M. Madjedi, Praveen J. Patel, Mahantesh I. Biradar, Zihan Sun, Mark A. Chia, Louis R. Pasquale, Janey L. Wiggs, Jae H. Kang, Jihye Kim, Hugues Aschard, Jessica H. Tran, Marleen A.H. Lentjes, Paul J. Foster, Anthony P. Khawaja, Hugues Aschard, Mark Chia, Sharon Chua, Ron Do, Paul Foster, Jae Kang, Alan Kastner, Anthony Khawaja, Jihye Kim, Marleen Lentjes, Robert Luben, Kian Madjedi, Giovanni Montesano, Louis Pasquale, Kelsey Stuart, Alasdair Warwick, Janey Wiggs, Naomi Allen, Tariq Aslam, Denize Atan, Sarah Barman, Jenny Barrett, Paul Bishop, Graeme Black, Tasanee Braithwaite, Roxana Carare, Usha Chakravarthy, Michelle Chan, Sharon Chua, Alexander Day, Parul Desai, Bal Dhillon, Andrew Dick, Alexander Doney, Cathy Egan, Sarah Ennis, Paul Foster, Marcus Fruttiger, John Gallacher, David Garway-Heath, Jane Gibson, Jeremy Guggenheim, Chris Hammond, Alison Hardcastle, Simon Harding, Ruth Hogg, Pirro Hysi, Pearse Keane, Peng Tee Khaw, Anthony Khawaja, Gerassimos Lascaratos, Thomas Littlejohns, Andrew Lotery, Phil Luthert, Tom MacGillivray, Sarah Mackie, Bernadette McGuinness, Gareth McKay, Martin McKibbin, Tony Moore, James Morgan, Eoin O'Sullivan, Richard Oram, Chris Owen, Praveen Patel, Euan Paterson, Tunde Peto, Axel Petzold, Nikolas Pontikos, Jugnoo Rahi, Alicja Rudnicka, Naveed Sattar, Jay Self, Panagiotis Sergouniotis, Sobha Sivaprasad, David Steel, Irene Stratton, Nicholas Strouthidis, Cathie Sudlow, Zihan Sun, Robyn Tapp, Dhanes Thomas, Emanuele Trucco, Adnan Tufail, Ananth Viswanathan, Veronique Vitart, Mike Weedon, Katie Williams, Cathy Williams, Jayne Woodside, Max Yates, Jennifer Yip, Yalin Zheng, Tin Aung, Kathryn Burdon, Li Chen, Ching-Yu Cheng, Jamie Craig, Angela Cree, Victor de Vries, Sjoerd Driessen, John Fingert, Paul Foster, Puya Gharahkhani, Christopher Hammond, Caroline Hayward, Alex Hewitt, Pirro Hysi, Nomdo Jansonius, Fridbert Jonansson, Jost Jonas, Michael Kass, Anthony Khawaja, Chiea Khor, Caroline Klaver, Jacyline Koh, Andrew Lotery, Stuart MacGregor, David Mackey, Paul Mitchell, Calvin Pang, Louis Pasquale, Francesca Pasutto, Norbert Pfeiffer, Ozren Polašek, Wishal Ramdas, Alexander Schuster, Ayellet Segrè, Einer Stefansson, Kári Stefánsson, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Cornelia van Duijn, Joëlle Vergroesen, Ananth Viswanathan, Veronique Vitart, Eranga Vithana, Janey Wiggs, James Wilson, Robert Wojciechowski, Tien Wong, Terri Young

Publish date:

5 December 2022

Journal:

Ophthalmology Glaucoma

PubMed ID:

36481453

DOI:

10.1016/j.ogla.2022.11.008

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the associations of alcohol consumption with glaucoma and related traits, to assess whether a genetic predisposition to glaucoma modified these associations, and to perform Mendelian randomization (MR) experiments to probe causal effects.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational and gene-environment interaction analyses in the UK Biobank. Two-sample MR experiments using summary statistics from large genetic consortia.

PARTICIPANTS: UK Biobank participants with data on intraocular pressure (IOP) (n = 109 097), OCT-derived macular inner retinal layer thickness measures (n = 46 236) and glaucoma status (n = 173 407).

METHODS: Participants were categorized according to self-reported drinking behaviors. Quantitative estimates of alcohol intake were derived from touchscreen questionnaires and food composition tables. We performed a 2-step analysis, first comparing categories of alcohol consumption (never, infrequent, regular, and former drinkers) before assessing for a dose-response effect in regular drinkers only. Multivariable linear, logistic, and restricted cubic spline regression, adjusted for key sociodemographic, medical, anthropometric, and lifestyle factors, were used to examine associations. We assessed whether any association was modified by a multitrait glaucoma polygenic risk score. The inverse-variance weighted method was used for the main MR analyses.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intraocular pressure, macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL) thickness, macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL) thickness, and prevalent glaucoma.

RESULTS: Compared with infrequent drinkers, regular drinkers had higher IOP (+0.17 mmHg; P < 0.001) and thinner mGCIPL (-0.17 μm; P = 0.049), whereas former drinkers had a higher prevalence of glaucoma (odds ratio, 1.53; P = 0.002). In regular drinkers, alcohol intake was adversely associated with all outcomes in a dose-dependent manner (all P < 0.001). Restricted cubic spline regression analyses suggested nonlinear associations, with apparent threshold effects at approximately 50 g (∼6 UK or 4 US alcoholic units)/week for mRNFL and mGCIPL thickness. Significantly stronger alcohol-IOP associations were observed in participants at higher genetic susceptibility to glaucoma (P_interaction < 0.001). Mendelian randomization analyses provided evidence for a causal association with mGCIPL thickness.

CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol intake was consistently and adversely associated with glaucoma and related traits, and at levels below current United Kingdom (< 112 g/week) and United States (women, < 98 g/week; men, < 196 g/week) guidelines. Although we cannot infer causality definitively, these results will be of interest to people with or at risk of glaucoma and their advising physicians.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.