Effect of red wine ingestion on the antioxidant capacity of serum

Abstract

Aerobic metabolism in biological systems produces reactive oxygen species, and defense against such prooxidants requires antioxidant activity, e.g., predominantly vitamins C and E in serum. Recently, flavonoids (polyphenols occurring widely in plants) have been investigated in vitro for their antioxidant activity; whether they are absorbed after ingestion is not clear. Using a chemiluminescent assay of serum antioxidant capacity (SAOC), we have studied the effects in normal individuals of ingesting red wine, white wine, and high doses of vitamin C. In nine subjects who ingested 300 mL of red wine, the mean SAOC was increased by 18% after 1 h and by 11% at 2 h. The same amount of white wine produced 4% and 7% increases, respectively. The ingestion of 1000 mg (5.7 mmol) of ascorbic acid by four subjects increased their mean SAOC by 22% at 1 h and by 29% at 2 h. An in vitro comparison of red wine, white wine, and various fruit juices showed the high antioxidant capacity of red wine in addition to its ability to increase the antioxidant capacity of serum in vivo. The antioxidant effects of various flavonoids and other polyphenols were also studied.

Red wine protects diabetic patients from meal‐induced oxidative stress and thrombosis activation: a pleasant approach to the prevention of cardiovascular disease in diabetes

“…Oxidative stress [37,38], LDL oxidation [10,39,40] and coagulation activation [12,41] are generated postprandially in both diabetic and nondiabetic subjects. According to previous reports, our study supports the evidence that red wine ingestion increases plasma antioxidant defences [15,16,19,34,35]. Thus, we show that in diabetic patients red wine consumption with a meal is able to counterbalance the effect of the meal on LDL susceptibility to oxidation and on coagulation activation.…”

Resveratrol: from grapevines to mammalian biology

“…The observations presented in the preceding section are further supported by human in vivo studies demonstrating increased antioxidant activity in blood of moderate red wine consumers (38); however, more needs to be done to establish that the reported beneficial effects on human cardiovascular, neurological, and hepatic systems are indeed a function of RSV.…”

“…Oxidized lipoproteins provide a permissive environment for atheroma formation and platelet aggregation, thereby fueling the process of atherosclerosis (37). Phenolic compounds present in red wine elicit antioxidant activity and prevent LDL oxidation (38). In line with this, epidemiological studies have linked moderate intake of wine with an appreciable decrease in the risk of coronary artery disease, particularly in regions of France where the diet is rich in fat (39).…”

Acute effect of nut consumption on plasma total polyphenols, antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation

“…Human intervention studies on nuts show that most of these cardio-protective effects of nuts are brought about via reducing both total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, largely due to the high unsaturated fatty acid content of these nuts (Feldman, 2002;Strahan, 2004). Although it is known that, for every 1% decrease in plasma LDL cholesterol, there is a tea (Yoshida et al, 1999) and chocolate can decrease the risk of CVD by increasing the plasma antioxidant capacity and inhibiting LDL peroxidation (Whitehead et al, 1995;Serafini et al, 1996Serafini et al, , 2003Rein et al, 2000;Seeram et al, 2006). Walnuts and almonds are the two most commonly consumed nuts in the USA (ERS/USDA Briefing Room, 2004) as well as in European countries, including UK (Jenab et al, 2006).…”