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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2008;28:353.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Clinical and Population Studies

Tea Consumption Is Inversely Associated With Carotid Plaques in Women

Stéphanie Debette; Dominique Courbon; Nathalie Leone; Jérôme Gariépy; Christophe Tzourio; Jean-François Dartigues; Pascale Barberger-Gateau; Karen Ritchie; Annick Alpérovitch; Philippe Amouyel; Pierre Ducimetière; Mahmoud Zureik

From Inserm, U744 (S.D., D.C., P.A., M.Z.), Lille; Department of Neurology (EA2691) (S.D.), University Hospital of Lille; Inserm, U700 (D.C., N.L., M.Z.), Paris; Inserm, U708 (C.T., A.A.), Paris; Inserm, U593 (J.F.D., P.B.G.), Bordeaux; Inserm, E0361 (K.R.), Montpellier; Inserm, U780 (P.D.), Paris; Centre de Médecine Préventive Cardiovasculaire (J.G.), Broussais Hospital, Paris, France.

Correspondence to Mahmoud Zureik, MD, PhD, Inserm, U700, Faculté de Médecine de Xavier Bichat, 16 Rue Henri Huchard, Paris, F-75018, France. E-mail zureik{at}bichat.inserm.fr

Abstract

Objective— The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of tea consumption with common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) and carotid plaques.

Methods and Results— The study was performed on 6597 subjects aged 65 years, recruited in the French population for the Three-City Study. Atherosclerotic plaques in the extracranial carotid arteries and CCA-IMT were measured using a standardized protocol. Results were tested for replication in another, younger, French population sample (EVA-Study, 1123 subjects). In the Three-City Study, increasing daily tea consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of carotid plaques in women: 44.0%, 42.5%, and 33.7% in women drinking no tea, 1 to 2 cups/d, and 3 cups/d (P=0.0001). This association was independent of age, center, major vascular risk factors, educational level, and dietary habits (adjOR=0.68[95%CI:0.54 to 0.86] for women drinking 3 cups/d compared with none). There was no association of tea consumption with carotid plaques in men, or CCA-IMT in both genders. In the EVA-Study, carotid plaque frequency was 18.8%, 18.5%, and 8.9% in women drinking no tea, 1 to 2 cups/d, and 3 cups/d (P=0.08).

Conclusion— In a large sample of elderly community subjects we showed for the first time that carotid plaques were less frequent with increasing tea consumption in women.

Our aim was to assess the relationship of tea consumption with common carotid artery intima-media thickness and carotid plaques in a large population-based sample of elderly subjects. Increasing daily tea consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of carotid plaques in women, independently of vascular risk factors and dietary habits.

Key Words: plaque • carotid arteries • atherosclerosis • intima-media thickness • tea

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