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Heavy coffee consumption in conjunction with smoking is accompanied by increased inflammatory processes and impaired thrombosis/fibrinolysis system in essential hypertensive subjects

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 20, pages 470–472 (2006)Cite this article

The effect of coffee on the cardiovascular system still remains controversial although it is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide in large amounts.1, 2, 3 However, the available data regarding the effect of caffeine intake on atherosclerotic inflammatory and thrombotic mechanisms are rather scarce.3 Moreover, the combination of coffee intake with smoking is deleterious exhibiting an association with increased blood pressure (BP), pronounced vascular dysfunction and unfavorable prognosis either in healthy or hypertensive populations.4, 5, 6 On the basis of the above, we examined the impact of heavy coffee intake on plasma inflammatory and fibrinolytic markers such as inteurleukin-6 (IL-6) and plasminogen-activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) in essential hypertensive smokers.

In our pool of middle-aged patients with newly diagnosed (within the last 2 years) untreated stage I–II essential hypertension,7 who referred to the outpatient hypertension unit during a period of 6 months, we determined in smokers (defined as those who smoke ⩾1 cigarette/day) the usual coffee consumption according to a previously reported food frequency questionnaire by Tuomilehto et al.8 More specifically, patients were asked, ‘How many cups of coffee do you drink per day or per week?’ It should be noted that all types of coffee were adjusted for 1 cup of coffee (average caffeine concentration of 90 mg/cup).2, 3 Exclusion criteria included heart failure, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus or glucose intolerance, familial hypercholesterolemia, augmented serum creatinine concentration or overt proteinuria, any clinical and laboratory evidence of inflammation or medical treatment over a period of 1 month before entry in the study and any other clinically significant concurrent medical conditions. On the basis of the above exclusion criteria and the obtained answers to the food frequency questionnaire, and given that we would like to focus on the two ‘edges’ of coffee consumption, our final study population consisted of 30 consecutive heavy coffee drinkers (>4 cups/day) and 30 consecutive light coffee drinkers (<1 cup/day or <7 cups/week) matched for age, sex, and pack-years. The study protocol was approved by our institutional ethics committee and all participants gave written informed consent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece

    C Tsioufis, K Dimitriadis, E Taxiarchou, E Vezali & I Kallikazaros

  2. First Cardiology Clinic, University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece

    C Vasiliadou, E Tsiamis & C Stefanadis

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  1. C Tsioufis
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  2. K Dimitriadis
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  3. C Vasiliadou
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  4. E Taxiarchou
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  7. C Stefanadis
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  8. I Kallikazaros
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Tsioufis, C., Dimitriadis, K., Vasiliadou, C. et al. Heavy coffee consumption in conjunction with smoking is accompanied by increased inflammatory processes and impaired thrombosis/fibrinolysis system in essential hypertensive subjects. J Hum Hypertens 20, 470–472 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1002014

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