Lean body mass, age linked with alcohol elimination rates in women


Date:
June 26, 2023
Source:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau
Summary:
Research links women's lean body mass with how quickly they
eliminate alcohol from their system. Women with obesity and those
who are older eliminate alcohol from their bloodstreams faster
than those of normal weight and those who are younger.


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FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The rate at which women eliminate alcohol from their bloodstream is
largely predicted by their lean body mass, although age plays a role,
too, scientists found in a new study. Women with obesity -- and those
who are older -- clear alcohol from their systems 52% faster than women
of healthy weights and those who are younger, the study found.

Lean body mass is defined in the study -- published in the journal
Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research -- as one's total body weight
minus fat.

"We believe the strong relationship we found between participants' lean
body mass and their alcohol elimination rate is due to the association
that exists between lean body mass and lean liver tissue -- the part
of the liver responsible for metabolizing alcohol," said research group
leader M. Yanina Pepino, a professor of food science and human nutrition
at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

To explore links between body composition and alcohol elimination rates,
the team conducted a secondary analysis of data from a study performed
at the U. of I and another at Indiana University, Indianapolis. Both
projects used similar methods to estimate the rate at which alcohol is
broken down in the body.

The combined sample from the studies used in the analysis included 143
women who ranged in age from 21 to 64 and represented a wide range of
body mass indices -- from healthy weights to severe obesity. Among these
were 19 women who had undergone different types of bariatric surgery.

In a subsample of 102 of these women, the researchers had measured
the proportions of lean and fat tissue in their bodies and calculated
their body mass indices. Based on their BMI, those in the subsample were divided into three groups: normal weight, which included women with BMI
ranging from 18.5- 24.9; overweight, those with BMI ranging from 25-29.9;
and obese, participants with BMI above 30.

As the researchers expected, women with higher BMI had not only more
fat mass than women of healthy weights, they also had more lean mass. On average, the group with obesity had 52.3 kg of lean mass, compared with
47.5 kg for the normal weight group.

The two studies both used an alcohol clamp technique, where participants received an intravenous infusion of alcohol at a rate controlled by a
computer- assisted system. The system calculated personalized infusion
rates based upon each participant's age, height, weight and gender and
was programmed so they would reach a target blood alcohol concentration
of .06 percent within 15 minutes and maintain that level for about two
hours Using a breathalyzer, breath samples were collected at regular
intervals throughout the experiments to estimate participants' blood
alcohol concentration and provide feedback to the system.

"We found that having a higher fat-free body mass was associated
with a faster alcohol elimination rate, particularly in women in the
oldest subgroups," said Neda Seyedsadjadi, a postdoctoral fellow at the university and the first author of the study.

"The average alcohol elimination rates were 6 grams per hour for the
healthy weight group, 7 grams for the overweight group, and 9 grams
for the group with obesity," she said. "To put this in perspective, one standard drink is 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is found in 12 ounces
of beer, 5 ounces of table wine or 1.5 ounces shot of distilled spirits."
The interaction between participants' age and lean body mass accounted
for 72% of the variance in the time required to eliminate the alcohol
from their system, the team found.

Pepino, who also holds an appointment as a health innovation professor
at Carle Illinois College of Medicine, has conducted several studies on
alcohol response in bariatric surgery patients.

The findings also shed light on alcohol metabolism and body composition
in women who have undergone weight loss surgery. Researchers have long
known that bariatric surgery alters women's response to alcohol but
were uncertain if it affected how quickly they cleared alcohol from
their systems.

Some prior studies found that these patients metabolized alcohol more
slowly after they had weight loss surgery. The new study's findings
indicate that these participants' slower alcohol elimination rates can be explained by surgery-induced reductions in their lean body mass. Weight
loss surgery itself had no independent effects on patients' alcohol
elimination rates, the team found.

Additional co-authors of the current study were Dr. Blair Rowitz,
associate dean for clinical affairs with the Carle Illinois College of Medicine; Vijay A.

Ramchandani, a senior investigator in the section on human
psychopharmocology at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism; and psychiatry professors Dr. Martin H. Plawecki and Dr. Sean
J. O'Connor, and scientist in neurology Ann E.K. Kosobud, all of the
Indiana University School of Medicine.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Health_&_Medicine
# Obesity # Diet_and_Weight_Loss # Fitness # Triglycerides
o Mind_&_Brain
# Alcoholism # Addiction # Dieting_and_Weight_Control #
Gender_Difference
* RELATED_TERMS
o Methanol o Hair o Blood_alcohol_content o Alcoholism o
Obesity o Fetal_alcohol_spectrum_disorder o Overweight o Dioxin

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Illinois_at_Urbana-Champaign,_News_Bureau.

Original written by Sharita Forrest. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Neda Seyedsadjadi, Vijay A. Ramchandani, Martin H. Plawecki,
Ann E. K.

Kosobud, Sean O'Connor, Blair Rowitz, Marta Yanina
Pepino. Fat‐free mass accounts for most of the variance
in alcohol elimination rate in women. Alcohol: Clinical and
Experimental Research, 2023; 47 (5): 848 DOI: 10.1111/acer.15047 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230626164151.htm

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