Red wine consumption and inhibition of LDL oxidation: what are the important components?

Howard, Alan; Chopra, Mridula; Thurnham, David I; Strain, John J; Fuhrman, Bianca; Aviram, Michael

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Volume 59, Issue 1 , Pages 101-104, July 2002

Red wine consumption and inhibition of LDL oxidation: what are the important components?

Alan Howard
- The Howard Foundation, Whitehill House, Granhams Road, Great Shelford, Cambridge CB2 5JY, UK
Mridula Chopra
- School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmonth, Portsmonth PO1 2DT, UK
- Correspondence to: Dr. Mridula Chopra, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmonth, Portsmonth PO1 2DT, UK. Phone: +44 23 9284 3562; fax: +44 23 9284 3565
David I Thurnham
- Northern Ireland Centre for Diet and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
John J Strain
- Northern Ireland Centre for Diet and Health (NICHE), University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK
Bianca Fuhrman
- The Lipid Research Laboratory, Technion Faculty of Medicine, The Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences and Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel
Michael Aviram
- The Lipid Research Laboratory, Technion Faculty of Medicine, The Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences and Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

Received 2 November 2001; accepted 13 February 2002.

Abstract

The `French Paradox' has been attributed to the regular drinking of red wine. The beneficial effects of red wine could be related to both the alcohol and antioxidant activities of red wine polyphenols. However, it is not clear whether the alcohol component is important and the results of intervention trials are conflicting. In the present report, we have examined the polyphenol composition of red wines used in the various studies and have suggested a few possible reasons for discrepancies in their effects on lipoprotein oxidation.