Intravenous and intragastric administration of red wine and grape juice, but not white wine, abolished cyclic flow reductions in mechanically stenosed canine coronary arteries.
Does administration of red wine or grape juice prevent cyclic flow reductions in a canine model of stenosed coronary arteries?
Red wine and grape juice, but not white wine, inhibit in vivo platelet activity and thrombosis in a canine model, suggesting protective effects from non-ethanol compounds like flavonoids.
BACKGROUND: Moderate daily consumption of alcoholic beverages is a negative risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD), especially in France and other Mediterranean areas where red wine is regularly consumed with meals. Platelets contribute to the development of atherosclerosis, CAD, and acute arterial thrombus formation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Anesthetized dogs were prepared with the Folts model of mechanically stenosed coronary arteries and intimal damage. Periodic acute platelet-mediated thrombus formation occurred, causing cyclic flow reductions (CFRs) in coronary blood flow. The CFRs were eliminated by the administration of 1.62 +/- 1.12 mL/kg red wine intravenously (IV) and 4.0 mL/kg intragastrically (IG). The CFRs were abolished by 2.04 +/- 1.42 mL/kg of grape juice IV and 10 mL/kg IG. White wine did not have significant results in eliminating the CFRs, either IV (2.0 mL/kg) or IG (4.0 mL/kg), decreasing the slopes of the CFRs only slightly. CONCLUSIONS: Pure ethanol has been shown to inhibit platelet aggregation in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo, although a blood alcohol content (BAC) of > or = 0.2 g/dL is usually required. The BAC of dogs administered the red wine-saline solution intravenously was 0.028 g/dL, much less than is usually necessary for platelet inhibition with pure ethanol. Because red wine and grape juice, but not white wine, abolished the CFRs, this suggests there are compounds present in red wine and grape juice that are not present or are present in a lower concentration in white wine. Wine and grape juice contain a wide variety of naturally occurring compounds, including fungicides, tannins, anthocyanins, and phenolic flavonoids (including flavonols and flavones). These compounds have shown platelet inhibition in vitro by a variety of proposed mechanisms. Perhaps the biological activity of these compounds can explain the platelet-inhibitory properties of red wine and grape juice that are observed without high levels of ethanol.
Demrow et al. (Wed,) conducted a other in Mechanically stenosed coronary arteries and intimal damage. Red wine and grape juice vs. White wine was evaluated on Cyclic flow reductions (CFRs) in coronary blood flow. Intravenous and intragastric administration of red wine and grape juice, but not white wine, abolished cyclic flow reductions in mechanically stenosed canine coronary arteries.