Objective  To examine the association of alcohol consumption with serum soluble corin, a key protease of natriuretic peptides system, for providing evidence to researches on the role of natriuretic peptides system in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases.

  Methods  Questionnaire survey, blood pressure measurement and laboratory tests were conducted among 3 061 permanent residents aged 30 years and above recruited in a district of Suzhou city, Jiangsu province durig May – August 2010. Median linear regression model was adopted to examine the association between alcohol consumption and serum corin in the residents.

  Results  Among the 2 498 participants completing the survey, the sex-specific medians of serum corin (pg/mL) in the non-, light, moderate, and heavy drinkers were 2238.10, 2220.93, 2070.50, and 1966.49 for the males and 1514.58, 1477.28, 1707.43, and 1490.48 for the females, respectively. In the male participants, the median of serum corin decreased significantly in moderate and heavy drinkers (both P < 0.01) but not in light drinkers (P > 0.05) compared with the non-drinkers. After adjusting for age, education, smoking, and the preference for salty food, the result of median linear regression analysis showed that compared to the non-drinkers, the heavy drinkers still had a lower serum corin (215.26 pg/mL, β = − 215.26; P = 0.002). While in the female participants, the serum corin median of the three drinker groups were all not significantly different from that of non-drinkers (all P > 0.05).

  Conclusion  Alcohol consumption is associated significantly with a decreased level of serum corin in male community adults. The result suggests that alcohol consumption may affect the function of natriuretic peptides system, and thereby have impact on cardiovascular system.