Polyphenols-enriched Chardonnay white wine and sparkling Pinot Noir red wine identically prevent early atherosclerosis in hamsters.

The effects of a white wine enriched with polyphenols (PEWW) from Chardonnay grapes and of a sparkling red wine (SRW) from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes were studied for the first time on early atherosclerosis in hamsters. Animals were fed an atherogenic diet for 12 weeks. They received by force-feeding PEWW, SRW, ethanol 12% (ETH), or water as control (mimicking a moderate consumption of approximately 2 red wine glasses per meal for a 70 kg human). Plasma cholesterol concentrations were lower in groups that consumed PEWW and SRW accompanied by an increase in the ratio apo A-1/apo B. Liver-specific activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase were significantly increased by PEWW (38 and 16%, respectively) and by SRW (48 and 15%, respectively). PEWW and ETH significantly increased plasma antioxidant capacity and vitamin A concentrations. Aortic fatty streak area (AFSA) was significantly strongly reduced in the groups receiving PEWW (85%) and SRW (89%) in comparison with the control. AFSA was reduced by ethanol to a lesser extent (58%). These data suggest that tannins from the phenolics-enriched white wine induce a protective effect against early atherosclerosis comparable to that produced by sparkling red wine containing tanins and anthocyanins and dissociated from the antioxidant action of these compounds.