Lipid minor constituents in wines. A biochemical approach in the French paradox

Abstract

Abstract:The "French paradox" is the observation that the French suffer a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease, despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats. Several theories have been proposed in order to explain this phenomenon and several debates arose. One of them attributed this phenomenon to the regular and moderate consumption of wine in France. More specifi c, it is thought that the existence of bioactive compounds in wine could have an effect on the cardiovascular system, preventing or delaying atherosclerosis. The mechanisms mediating these benefi cial effects include: low-density lipoprotein oxidation; endothelium function; smooth muscle cells proliferation; platelet aggregation and angiogenesis. Several mediators participate in these pathophysiological mechanisms, among them are plateletactivating factor (PAF) and oxidized phospholipids that play a crucial and essential role in the initiation and the progression of atherogenesis. In this review, apart from the already known and well characterized biological effects of wine bioactive compounds, the co-existence of compounds that could modulate the production and the actions of PAF is highlighted. The existence of bioactive compounds in wine that could reduce PAF production and inhibit its actions may offer a new insight into the well known French paradox and expand the already reported mechanisms by including the inhibition of PAF actions.

Evaluation of Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Platelet and Anti-Oxidant Activity of Wine Extracts Prepared from Ten Different Grape Varieties

“…The beneficial effect of wine versus other alcoholic beverages is mainly attributed to its microconstituents. During the last decades, an effort was made to isolate and identify the biological active compounds that are responsible for the wine's cardio protective effect [7]. Wine consists of a complex mixture of compounds that originate both from the grapes and the fermentation process.…”

“…PAF is a potent inflammatory and thrombotic mediator that participates in the initiation and prolongation of atherosclerosis [5,6]. Its inhibition from wine microconstituents could partly explain the cardio protective effect of wine consumption [7].…”

“…These compounds could be either water or lipid soluble and therefore could reveal several biological actions in different target sites of the human body. Among them, the presence of numerous phenolic compounds has been reported, including compounds such as flavanols (e.g., cetechins), flavonols (e.g., quercetin), stilbenes (e.g., resveratrol), phenolic acids (e.g., gallic acid) and phospho-and glyco-lipids [7,8]. Plethora data support the idea that wine microconstituents could exert anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-platelet activities.…”

In vitro health beneficial activities of Pumpkin seeds from Cucurbita moschata cultivated in Lemnos

“…Traditionally, the nutrition quality factor comprises major nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins, as well as minor components such as minerals, vitamins, fibers (Bourne, 2002) and the well studied phenolics or not extensively studied various others (Jiang & Du, 2011;Koike, Li, Liu, Hata, & Nikaido, 2005;Li et al, 2009) or still unidentified minor food compounds. In the last decades many studies have revealed that minor food components such as various lipids (Demopoulos, Karantonis, & Antonopoulou, 2003;Fragopoulou, Demopoulos, & Antonopoulou, 2009;Nasopoulou, Karantonis, Detopoulou, Demopoulos, & Zabetakis, 2014) and phenolics (Del Rio et al, 2013) exert beneficial effects in human health by preventing chronic disease development in humans such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type II. In recent years it has been made clear that chronic diseases share common basic pathophysiological mechanisms such as inflammation, thrombosis and oxidative stress.…”

Promising Application of Grape Pomace and Its Agri-Food Valorization: Source of Bioactive Molecules with Beneficial Effects

“…This causes the release of certain metabolites that can further aggravate the atherosclerotic lesion. Flavonoids can inhibit platelet activation and aggregation through the inhibition of AA activation or blockade of ADP and collagen [71][72][73]. For example, resveratrol in 20 healthy volunteers reported antiplatelet effects as it increased nitric oxide (NO) production, which in turn inhibits platelet aggregation as it causes an increase in platelet NO synthase enzyme activity [74].…”