Ma. Carbonneau et al., IMPROVEMENT IN THE ANTIOXIDANT STATUS OF PLASMA AND LOW-DENSITY-LIPOPROTEIN IN SUBJECTS RECEIVING A RED WINE PHENOLICS MIXTURE, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, 75(2), 1998, pp. 235-240
It is commonly accepted that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)
plays an important role in coronary heart disease (CHD) and etiologic
ally related atherogenesis. Consumption of wine may contribute to the
low risk of CHD in the Mediterranean population. These findings raise
the question of the in vivo antioxidant role of wine phenolic compound
s after a prolonged supplementation period in healthy human volunteers
. We found that subjects, receiving 2 g/d of an alcohol-free red wine-
extracted phenolic compound (RWPC) mixture for 14 d (which was equival
ent to about 1 L/d of the red wine), exhibited an increase in the plas
ma antioxidative capacity and in LDL vitamin E by blood sampling under
fasting conditions. The fact that the LDL Cu2+-oxidizability was not
decreased can be explained by both the lack of phenolic compound affin
ity for the lipoprotein particle, highlighted by LDL dialysis, and the
insufficient increase in LDL vitamin E, as shown by the relationship
between vitamin E content and oxidation resistance of LDL evidenced by
literature data. These results support that RWPC could play a coantio
xidant role, similar to that of vitamin C, possibly accounting for the
ir LDL vitamin E sparing effect and their beneficial role in lowering
CHD risks.