The benefits of wine for the brain have been proven at the molecular level
A group of scientists from Spain, the USA and the UK found out that red wine has a positive effect on the human central nervous system due to the intestinal microflora.
It is known that frequent or heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages harms the human body, especially the liver and brain. At the same time, studies indicate that moderate and regular consumption of red wine (250 ml per day) reduces the risk of neurodegenerative diseases — Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Oxidative and nitrosative stresses underlie the development of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. This means that the active forms of oxygen and nitrogen damage various structures of the nerve cell, which leads to disruption of its work and death. The protective effect of wine is due to the fact that its components, passing through the intestines, are processed by the local microflora. In particular, flavan-3-ols of red wine under the action of microorganisms turn into various derivatives of propionic, phenylacetic and benzoic acids. These metabolites have an important property — they are able to penetrate the human hemato-encephalic barrier — a cellular and molecular filter that protects neurons from the effects of harmful substances that may be contained in the blood. "Microbial" metabolites pass the barrier without problems and have a direct effect on the human brain.
To study the positive effect of propionic, phenylacetic and benzoic acid derivatives on the nervous system, the following method was used. Scientists grew cell cultures from a human neuroblastoma line, then, within 24 hours, cell cultures were contained in solutions of "intestinal" metabolites of various concentrations. Then the cell cultures were washed from these solutions and exposed to 3-morpholinosidnonymine (SIN-1) for a period of 0 to 15 hours. SIN-1 is a substance that is used to simulate the inflammatory response of a cell with oxidative and nitrosative stress. At the molecular level, this is expressed in a violation of the structure of DNA, lipids and proteins of the cell up to their complete destruction. Control cultures were grown without the addition of reagents.
Of all the "intestinal" metabolites, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid has demonstrated the ability to protect cells from death in both low and high concentrations. Derivatives of propionic and phenylacetic acids in low concentrations reduced the intensity of phosphorylation harmful to the cell caused by exposure to SIN-1.
Oxidative and nitrosative stresses can cause damage to the cell through the launch of internal programs of inflammation and apoptosis (programmed cell death). There are several such molecular programs for self-destruction in cells, and they can be launched simultaneously. Thus, derivatives of substances contained in red wine inhibit several of these processes harmful to cells at once. This means that the components of wine, being subjected to metabolic processing by the bacteria of our intestines, become substances that protect the nervous system.
The study is published in the journal Frontiers In Nutrition.
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11.05.2017