Effects of acute verjuice consumption with a high-cholesterol diet on some biochemical risk factors of atherosclerosis in rabbits.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic changes in postprandial state particularly after fatty meals lead to atherosclerosis progression. Verjuice is an acidic juice made from unripe grape, commonly used as a popular ingredient in Iran. In this study the acute effects of verjuice intake on postprandial values of some biochemical atherosclerosis risk factors in rabbits fed high-cholesterol diets were investigated to see if it has is a possible protective role. MATERIAL/
METHODS: Rabbits were allowed free access to diets containing: no cholesterol, 1% cholesterol, 1% cholesterol with 5 ml of verjuice, and 1% cholesterol with 10 ml of verjuice. C-reactive protein (CRP), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrite, nitrate, glucose, LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), oxidized-LDL (ox-LDL), total cholesterol (TC), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), triglyceride (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein A(ApoA), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), serum glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), and fibrinogen levels were measured before and three hours after feeding these diets.
RESULTS: Significant differences were observed in fibrinogen and glucose levels between the high-cholesterol diet with 5 and 10 ml verjuice and the high-cholesterol diet alone. Using 10 ml verjuice with the the high-cholesterol diet caused a significant reduction in ox-LDL, MDA, and nitrite compared with the high-cholesterol diet alone. No significant difference was found between the groups receiving verjuice and the high-cholesterol diet group in TC, HDL-C, TG, LDL-C, ApoA, ApoB, SGPT, SGOT, nitrate, or CRP.
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that there might be an acute protective effect in the postprandial use of verjuice on some of the risk factors of atherosclerosis, particularly as an antioxidant.