As moderate wine drinking is atheroprotective, it is clinically relevant to elucidate its possible mechanism/s of action/s.
Our objective is to demonstrate the potential benefits of the wine components, quercetin and ethanol, on the development of aortic plaques with parallel changes in antiatherogenic factors.
The effects of quercetin and ethanol on the development of aortic atherosclerotic lesions, liver PON1 gene expression, and serum PON1 activity were measured in LDLR
Depending on the duration and dosage of these modulators, 12.5 to 25 mg/dl quercetin (12.5Q to 25Q) and 18 to 25% ethanol, the magnitude of decreases in aortic lesions caused by moderate ethanol and quercetin ranged from 20 to 70% , Pearson r = 0.79 for 4-week treatment; p = 0.000004, Pearson r = 0.84 for 8-week treatment).
Concomitantly, 4-week treatments with 12.5Q and 18% ethanol up regulated liver PON1 mRNA by 41%.
Based on these findings, we conclude that quercetin and moderate ethanol significantly inhibit the progression of atherosclerosis by up regulating the hepatic expression of the antiatherogenic gene, PON1, with concomitant increased serum PON1 activity.
Request Reprint E-Mail: raj.lakshman@va.gov
___________________________________________
