The protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption against cardiovascular disease has been well established in epidemiological studies. However, the mechanism of protection is less well understood because of the complex multifactoral nature of cardiovascular disease and the complex chemistry of most alcoholic beverages. Alcohol consumption generally shows a ‘U’-shaped effect against cardiovascular disease, such that moderate intakes are protective, but low and high intakes are not. Red wine has additional benefits to ethanol alone, because it contains phenolic compounds derived from the grapes alongside the alcohol content. Studied using de-alcoholised red wine and grape juice have established the beneficial effects of grape polyphenols on markers for cardiovascular disease. One of the ways that both ethanol and polyphenols are thought to be protective of cardiovascular disease is via an anti-inflammatory mechanism.
To test the effects of wine on inflammation, researchers from Spain1 fed healthy women red or white wine (20 g of ethanol per day) for 4 weeks. Circulating HDL levels increased with wine consumption, which supports the finding of other studies looking into the effects of ethanol. Both types of wine were effective at reducing C-reactive protein, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, CD40L and interleukin-6. However, only red wine was effective at reducing vascular CAM-1 and E-selectin. In addition red wine was more effective than white at reducing CAM expression by mononuclear cells and enhanced adhesion of monocytes to stimulated endothelial cells; suggesting that the grape components in red wine may have been responsible for this extra effect. Therefore, moderate wine consumption shows beneficial effects on inflammatory pathways, but red wine is more beneficial probably because the polyphenol content shows superior anti‑inflammatory effects.
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