EFFECTS OF MODERATE CONSUMPTION OF RED WINE ON PLATELET-AGGREGATION AND HEMOSTATIC VARIABLES IN HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS

Objective: To evaluate the effect of moderate consumption of red wine on platelet aggregation and haemostatic variables, discriminating the effect of alcohol from that of non-alcoholic components. Design: A ran domised crossover study.Setting: The Department of Food Science and Te chnology, University of Milan. Subjects: Eleven healthy male volunteer s who were moderate drinkers. Interventions: For three periods of four weeks, subjects drank three different beverages [320 mi of red wine ( providing 30 g/day of alcohol), 30 g/day of alcohol diluted in 320 ml of clear fruit juice or 320 ml of dealcoholised red wine] during the t wo main meals. Each treatment was preceded by a period of four weeks o f complete withdrawal from any alcoholic beverage. At the end of each period platelet aggregation after collagen and ADP stimulus, and level s of fibrinogen, plasminogen, tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) antigen and von Willebrand factor (vWF) were determined. Results: Con sumption for a period of four weeks of 30 g/day of alcohol either from red wine or alcohol resulted in similar decreases of collagen-induced platelet aggregation and fibrinogen levels. ADP-induced platelet aggr egation, t-PA antigen, vWF and plasminogen levels were not affected by any treatment. No differences were detected when we compared platelet function and the other haemostatic variables at the end of red wine a nd dealcoholised treatments with findings at the end of alcohol treatm ent and abstinence. Conclusions: The well known positive effect of mod erate consumption of red wine on haemostasis seems due to alcohol and not to the non-alcoholic fraction present in red wine.