Dr Wannamethee and colleagues1 found that light to moderate alcohol consumption was inversely associated with risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus among younger women. However, among the plausible explanations of this beneficial effect, they did not mention the anti-inflammatory action of alcohol.
Moderate alcohol consumption has been documented to be associated with lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a sensitive marker of systemic inflammation, independent of ethanol-related effects on lipids.2 Furthermore, several prospective studies have shown that CRP levels additionally predict incident type 2 diabetes mellitus in men and women,3-5 supporting a possible role for inflammation for diabetogenesis. Therefore, an anti-inflammatory action of alcohol may help explain the link between light to moderate alcohol consumption and lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.