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Health

Endothelin-1 synthesis reduced by red wine

Red wines confer extra benefit when it comes to preventing coronary heart disease.

Abstract

Statistical evidence of reduced coronary heart disease in areas of high wine consumption has led to the widespread belief that wine affords a protective effect1,2. Although moderate drinking of any alcohol helps to reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease3,4, there is no clear evidence that red wine confers an additional benefit5. Here we show that red wines strongly inhibit the synthesis of endothelin-1, a vasoactive peptide that is crucial in the development of coronary atherosclerosis6. Our findings indicate that components specific to red wine may help to prevent coronary heart disease.

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Figure 1: Red wine inhibits endothelin-1 (ET-1) synthesis by bovine aortic endothelial cells and alters the distribution of phosphotyrosine immunofluorescence.

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Correspondence to Roger Corder.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Corder, R., Douthwaite, J., Lees, D. et al. Endothelin-1 synthesis reduced by red wine. Nature 414, 863–864 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/414863a

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