Less Irritative Action of Wine and Japanese Sake in Rat Stomachs: A Comparative Study with Ethanol

Abstract

The ingestion of alcohol, especially in excess, causes acute gastric lesions and gastritis in humans, yet the mucosal irritative action of alcoholic beverages remains largely unknown. We examined the mucosal irritative action of whiskey, wine and Japanese sake in the rat stomach both ex vivo and in vitro, in comparison with ethanol. Under urethane anesthesia, a rat stomach was mounted in an ex vivo chamber, then superfused with saline, and the transmucosal potential difference (PD) was measured. After the basal PD had stabilized, the mucosa was exposed for 30 min to 2 ml of 15% ethanol, whiskey (containing 15% ethanol), white wine, or Japanese sake (the ethanol concentration of the latter two is 12-15%). In the in vitro study, rat epithelial cells (RGM1) were treated with the alcoholic beverages for 5 min, and the cell viability was determined with crystal violet. Ethanol or whiskey applied to the chamber caused a decrease in PD, while wine or Japanese sake did not. Histologically, surface epithelial damage was observed after exposure to both ethanol and whiskey, yet no damage was induced by white wine and Japanese sake. Likewise, both ethanol and whiskey markedly reduced the viability of RGM1 cells after 5 min of incubation, while neither white wine nor Japanese sake had any effect. In addition, supplementation of glucose significantly prevented the reduction in both PD and cell viability caused by ethanol. These results suggest that the mucosal irritative action of Japanese sake and white wine is much less pronounced than that of ethanol or whiskey and that the less damaging action of Japanese sake and white wine may be, at least partly, accounted for by the glucose contained in these alcoholic beverages.

Association of total tooth loss with smoking, drinking alcohol and nutrition in elderly Japanese: analysis of national database

“…In the present study, current drinkers tended toward prevention of total tooth loss in elderly females and similar trend was observed in males. From non‐human studies, mucosal irritation caused by Japanese sake was much less pronounced than that attributable to ethanol or whisky, a result that was possibly due to the glucose concentration 24 . Japanese elderly women may also prefer sake to other kinds of alcoholic beverages.…”

Socioeconomics, health-related factors, and tooth loss among the population aged over 80 years in China

“…In contrast, a study of 8352 men aged 40 to 79 years in Japan showed that current drinkers had a significantly lower risk of having fewer than 20 teeth [ 49 ]. Another study on a Japanese population aged 60 years or above based on analyses of the national database also concluded that the crude and adjusted ORs of former and current drinkers were both < 1 [ 12 ], and the authors explained that it was possibly due to the much less pronounced mucosal irritation caused by Japanese sake than by ethanol or whiskey [ 50 ]. In the current study, regardless of whether we limited the alcohol category to “very strong liquor (≥ 38%)” or alcohol in general, the results were not significant in either sex.…”

Alcohol and the digestive system – should it always be blamed?

“…Występujące w napojach alkoholowych związki flawonowe, takie jak wogonina, oraz polifenole, w tym kwas elagowy zawarty w whisky, brandy i koniaku [100,[115][116][117], mają udowodniony, na razie w badaniach u zwierząt doświadczalnych, ochronny wpływ wobec wrzodotwórczego działania etanolu na śluzówkę żołąd-ka [118][119][120][121]. Wykazano także korzystny efekt resweratrolu w doświadczalnym ostrym zapaleniu trzustki [122,123].…”