Free Radical Biology and Medicine
Volume 42, Issue 11, 1 June 2007, Pages 1730-1735
There is considerable evidence that chronic moderate-to-high alcohol consumption increases blood pressure. The mechanisms by which this occurs are not clear.
Alcohol consumption can induce oxidative stress and cytochrome P450 (CYP450) isoforms that are associated with oxidative stress and may influence vascular tone.
To study the role of such mechanisms we examined whether reducing alcohol intake in moderate-to-heavy drinkers (40-110 g/day) resulted in changes in urinary excretion of 20-HETE, a CYP450 metabolite of arachidonic acid, and plasma and urinary F(2)-isoprostanes as markers of lipid peroxidation.
A substantial reduction in alcohol consumption in healthy men lowered plasma F(2)-isoprostanes and urinary 20-HETE.
Increased oxidative stress and 20-HETE production may be linked, at least in part, to the pathogenesis of alcohol-related hypertension.
Reprint Request E-mail: anne.barden@uwa.edu.au
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