Indian research endorses red wine

Consumption of red wine not only helps the cells in the body to produce vitamin C, but also makes a person less vulnerable to cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, according to recent findings.

The findings follow research conducted by a team of scientists from the biochemistry department of Allahabad University.

It is the compound called resveratrol, which is rich in red wine, which plays an important role in prevention of many diseases and works against the anti-aging phenomenon of the human body.

Syed Ibrahim Rizvi, associate professor in the department, said: “Red-wine helps in fighting diseases and improves body functions because of the presence of resveratrol, a compound found largely in the skin of grapes and also found in red wine.”

In a paper published in the October issue of Pharmacological Reports, Polish Academy of Sciences, Syed Ibrahim Rizvi and Kanti Bhooshan Pandey provided evidence of a new mechanism of action which explains the beneficial effects of resveratrol on the human body.

The two scientists proved that in blood, resveratrol is taken up by red blood cells and once inside the cell, resveratrol donates electrons to extra cellular acceptors by increasing the activity of PMRS and AFR reductase enzymes which results in regeneration of Vitamin C in plasma.

This mechanism of resveratrol gets more important as Vitamin C is a known primary antioxidant present in plasma but humans are unable to synthesise it due to lack of functional L-gulonolactone oxidase, the final enzyme of the Vitamin C biosynthesis in the body, said Dr Pandey.

Dr Rizvi said that it has been baffling for scientists that under laboratory conditions, resveratrol is required in much higher amounts to show effects similar to what is observed under normal conditions. The amount of resveratrol ingested through a glass of wine or red grapes is not sufficient to elicit health benefits in studies conducted under laboratory conditions, he added.

The French paradox is the observation that the French suffer a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats. Later, it was found that this was due to the presence of resveratrol. The phenomenon was first noted by Irish physician Samuel Black in 1819. The term French paradox was coined by Serge Renaud, a scientist from Bordeaux University in 1992.