Evening and Morning-After Aortic Wave Reflection Responses to Binge Alcohol Consumption
Authors: Thivierge Grant , Greenlund Ian M. , Bigalke Jeremy A. , Carter Jason R. , Durocher John J. 
Published: May 2024

Binge alcohol consumption acutely increases blood pressure and disrupts sleep. Recently, sleep irregularity has been linked to increases in aortic blood pressure. Increases in aortic wave reflection (i.e., aortic augmentation index) are associated with hypertension and cardiovascular risk. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the acute and next morning effects of evening binge alcohol consumption on aortic wave reflection. We tested the hypothesis that aortic augmentation index normalized to 75 heart beats per minute (AIx@75) and aortic pulsatile load (APL) would be increased acutely after binge drinking in the evening (study 1), and also the morning-after binge drinking compared to the morning after fluid control (study 2). Participants (n=33; 52% women; age 25±1 years; BMI 27±1 kg/m2) arrived at the laboratory at 4:00pm for baseline blood pressure and SphygmoCor (CPVH, Sydney, Australia) measures, and were provided a standardized meal verified by a registered dietitian. In a randomized order, separated by one month, participants completed a binge alcohol protocol (4-5 alcoholic drink equivalents within 2 hours) or fluid control. Alcohol or fluid control doses were administered in two equal allocates at 8 and 9 pm, and participants were provided 15 min to consume during each period. Binge alcohol consisted of a 1:3 mixture of 190 proof grain ethanol and fruit juice (i.e., Orange or Cranberry Juice) based on body weight and sex (1g/kg men, 0.85g/kg women), while the fluid control was only fruit juice in equal volume. Study 1 examined blood pressure, heart rate, aortic pulse pressure, APL, and AIx@75 before the standardized meal and then thirty minutes post-consumption of each allocated beverage using repeated measures ANOVA with condition (alcohol vs. fluid control) and time (baseline, post-drink 1, and post-drink 2) as within-subjects factors. Study 2 examined the same variables as study 1, but within 15 minutes of waking the morning after binge alcohol or fluid control using paired T-tests. Means were considered significantly different when p<0.05. In study 1, fluid control decreased HR and APL after doses one and two, while HR and APL were increased after the second dose of alcohol (time x cond. p<0.001). In study 2, morning-after HR was increased with binge alcohol compared to fluid control (57±1 vs. 63±2 beats/min; p<0.001). Morning-after APL (1857±66 vs. 2060±82 a.u.; p=0.012) and AIx@75 (2.9±2.5 vs. 6.5±2.4%; p=0.042) were also elevated in the binge alcohol condition. Our results indicate binge alcohol consumption acutely increases HR and APL the evening of consumption and increases HR, APL, and AIx@75 the morning after. These findings highlight a potential key physiological contributor to the known associations between binge alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk. NIH (AA-024892). This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.