In contrast to the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol intake on the heart, higher levels of alcohol consumption are linked to calcification of the coronary arteries, researchers report.

Dr. Mark J. Pletcher, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues looked into the relationship between alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and coronary calcification in 33- to 45-year-old subjects enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.

All told, 3037 participants - of whom 45 percent were black - were followed for 15 years.

According to the team’s report in the American Journal of Epidemiology, at the end of follow-up, 8 percent in the 1435 who did not drink showed evidence of coronary calcification.

The rate increased as the amount of alcohol consumed went up - 9 percent in the 1023 who had up to 6 drinks per week, 13 percent among the 341 who had 7 to 13 drinks per week, and 19 percent in the 238 subjects who had at least 14 drinks per week.

In addition, binge drinkers were twice as likely to have coronary calcification as non-drinkers.

These patterns were seen most clearly in black men, the team found.

Alcoholic beverage preference did not affect the association between alcohol consumption and coronary calcification.

The researchers suggest that the heart-protective effects of moderate alcohol intake “are counterbalanced by other harmful effects from alcohol in young persons.” This, they conclude, appears to be especially true in black men.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, March 1, 2005.