[wordup] Red, Please

[Adam Shand]

Via: The Eristocracy <Eristocracy at merrymeet.com>

Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 16:33:18 -0500
From: Earl Wajenberg <earlw at mc.com>
Subject: Red Wine and Heart

Study Probes the Cellular Underpinnings of the French Paradox

About a decade ago, the discovery of the French paradox -- that people
living in France have a lower incidence of heart disease than do their
British counterparts, despite a comparable intake of dietary fat -- touched
off the ongoing debate over the health benefits of alcohol. Though France
is famous for its red wine, scientists soon began examining, and in some
cases extolling, the benefits of moderate consumption of any alcohol.
Whether or not red wine has unique heart-helping effects was unclear.
Research published today in Nature, however, suggests that components
specific to red wine provide protection against coronary artery disease.

Roger Corder and colleagues at the Queen Mary University of London first
extracted chemicals known as polyphenols from red wine made from Cabernet
Sauvignon grapes. The polyphenols, they found, decreased production of the
peptide endothelin-1 (ET-1) in cultured animal heart cells by suppressing
transcription of the ET-1 gene. Endothelin-1, the authors note, is crucial
to the development of atherosclerosis, a disease in which plaques
containing cholesterol and lipids clog arteries.

To determine whether this protective property is unique to red wine, the
researchers next tested extracts from red, white and rose wines, as well as
non-alcoholic red grape juice. For the red wines, the degree to which ET-1
synthesis was inhibited in the cultured cells corresponded to the quantity
of polyphenols present, which varies depending on the wine's region of
origin and the type of grapes used. Grape juice slowed synthesis of the
peptide but was significantly less potent. The white and rose wines,
however, displayed no such inhibitory powers. Because the rose wine was
also made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, the authors suggest that "the
active principle in red wine must derive from red-grape skins or other
grape components during the vinification process." Just something to keep
in mind the next time you're asked "Red or White?" --Sarah Graham