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conferenceseries.com
February 20-21, 2017 Berlin, Germany
9th International Congress on
Nutrition & Health
Volume 7 Issue 1 (Suppl) J Nutr Food Sci
ISSN:2155-9600 JNFS, an open access journal Nutrition & Health 2017
February 20-21, 2017 Berlin, Germany
Cardioprotective effect of moderate wine consumption
E Fragopoulou1, S Antonopoulou1 and C A Demopoulos 2
1Harokopio University, Greece
2National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
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. In this concept, many
epidemiological studies confirm an inverse relationship between light to moderate wine consumption and cardiovascular events.
Atherosclerosis, the underlying mechanism of cardiovascular diseases is a multifactorial process including several cellular and
molecular alterations. Inflammation, thrombosis and oxidative stress are thought to play a crucial role in the onset and perpetuation
of atherosclerosis. Under this perspective, clinical trials have been implemented in order to investigate the effect of acute or chronic
wine consumption on biochemical markers associated with cardiovascular diseases. Among other pro-inflammatory and thrombotic
mediators platelet-activating factor (PAF, 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) and oxidized-phospholipids have been
proposed to play a crucial role in the initiation and prolongation of the atherosclerotic lesion. Therefore food compounds that inhibit
PAF actions, namely PAF inhibitors, may have a dual role both in hemostatic system and inflammatory cascade. Our research team
examined in vitro the effect of several red and white wines on PAF-induced platelet aggregation. The most potent ones were the red
wine with main variety Cabernet Sauvignon and the white wine with main variety Rompola demonstrating that the variable of grape
is important for the biological activity and not the color. In addition the consumption of these wines improved postprandial platelet
sensitivity against PAF, independently of alcohol, in healthy volunteers. In conclusion, the moderate consumption of wine could have
beneficial effect on human health due to the existence of wine micro-constituents. Since PAF is a potent mediator of inflammation
and thrombosis, with a crucial role in the initiation and prolongation of the atherosclerotic lesion, the existence of PAF inhibitors in
wine could partly explain the cardio-protective effect of moderate wine consumption.
Biography
E Fragopoulou is an Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry of Natural Products. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, and MSc and Doctorate in
Biochemistry. She has a great experience in the isolation and structural characterization of micro-constituents extracted from foods of the Mediterranean Diet, in
the study of anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-thrombotic effects of micro-constituents in cell free and cell culture systems. Activities in terms of international
recognition are the invitation for two review articles “Food ingredients and lipid mediators” and “Lipid minor constituents in wines: A biochemical approach in the
French paradox”. In addition she has experience in the designing and the implementation of clinical trials. She has been involved in 12 research projects with
national and international collaborations and funding, of which in 2 she was the Research Supervisor. She has 60 research and review articles published in peer-
reviewed journals.
E Fragopoulou et al., J Nutr Food Sci 2017, 7:1 (Suppl)