5-HYDROXYTRYPTAMINE RELEASE FROM PLATELETS BY DIFFERENT RED WINES - IMPLICATIONS FOR MIGRAINE

We have confirmed our earlier finding that most red wines are able to bring about 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) release from platele ts in vitro. Platelets from individual subjects manifested varying deg rees of releasing ability but responded to different wines with a simi lar rank ordering. There was a high correlation (r = 0.87) between the effect of red wine and that of reserpine in different individuals. So me types of red wine caused a consistently higher release of 5-HT than others in all subjects; one red wine in particular resulted in neglig ible release. When several brands of this 'low-releasing' red wine wer e further examined, they all showed a lower activity than all the bran ds of a 'high-releasing' red wine type. This variation in releasing po wer was not related to intensity of red colour. Partial purification o f red wine was achieved by column chromatography and showed releasing activity to be associated with a low molecular weight orange fraction. Preliminary studies, using solid phase extraction methods, showed tha t the active components lie mainly in a subgroup of the flavonoid frac tion. If any of the adverse effects of red wine, such as headache indu ction, derive from this 5-HT releasing ability, then it may be possibl e to prepare red wines free from the chemical substances responsible.