ADMINISTRATION OF WINE AND GRAPE JUICE INHIBITS IN-VIVO PLATELET ACTIVITY AND THROMBOSIS IN STENOSED CANINE CORONARY-ARTERIES

Background Moderate daily consumption of alcoholic beverages is a nega tive risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis and coronary a rtery disease (CAD), especially in France and other Mediterranean area s where red wine is regularly consumed with meals. Platelets contribut e to the development of atherosclerosis, CAD, and acute arterial throm bus formation. Methods and Results Anesthetized dogs were prepared wit h the Folts model of mechanically stenosed coronary arteries and intim al damage. Periodic acute platelet-mediated thrombus formation occurre d, causing cyclic flow reductions (CFRs) in coronary blood flow. The C FRs were eliminated by the administration of 1.62+/-1.12 mL/kg red win e intravenously (IV) and 4.0 mL/kg intragastrically (IG). The CFRs wer e abolished by 2.04+/-1.42 mL/kg of grape juice IV and 10 mL/kg IG. Wh ite wine did not have significant results in eliminating the CFRs, eit her IV (2.0 mL/kg) or IG (4.0 mL/kg), decreasing the slopes of the CFR s only slightly. Conclusions Pure ethanol has been shown to inhibit pl atelet aggregation in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo, although a blood al cohol content (BAC) of greater than or equal to 0.2 g/dL is usually re quired. The BAC of dogs administered the red wine-saline solution intr avenously was 0.028 g/dL, much less than is usually necessary for plat elet inhibition with pure ethanol. Because red wine and grape juice, b ut not white wine, abolished the CFRs, this suggests there are compoun ds present in red wine and grape juice that are not present or are pre sent in a lower concentration in white wine. Wine and grape juice cont ain a wide variety of naturally occurring compounds, including fungici des, tannins, anthocyanins, and phenolic flavonoids (including flavono ls and flavones). These compounds have shown platelet inhibition in vi tro by a variety of proposed mechanisms. Perhaps the biological activi ty of these compounds can explain the platelet-inhibitory properties o f red wine and grape juice that are observed without high levels ethan ol.