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纽约（路透社健康版）——英国科学家已经发现，红酒中对心脏健康和长寿有益的多酚类物质的主要成分很可能是 “原花青素低聚物”，该物质在某些红酒中含量很高。

伦敦玛丽女皇医学和口腔学院的Roger Corder博士及他的同事在《自然》杂志上指出，并不是所有人都承认红酒能保护心脏，有些人认为红酒的作用可能是由于不同红酒成分的复杂性和多样性造成的。

为了深入了解这个问题，研究者将培养的人血管内皮细胞分别与165种不同的红酒接触，以此鉴别对血管最有效的多酚类。结果发现，原花青素能够抑制一种称为内皮素-1的蛋白质的产生，后者有收缩血管作用。用高效液相层析仪可以鉴别出原花青素低聚物是抑制内皮素－1产生的特异性酚类成分。

萨丁尼亚Nuoro省及法国西南部居民的寿命较长。Corder及其同事发现，这些地区的红酒与澳大利亚、欧洲、南美、美国以及萨丁尼亚其它地区的红酒相比，对内皮素-1的抑制作用高2-4倍，而且红酒中原花青素低聚物的含量也明显高于其它地区。

Corder及其同事认为传统造酒工艺以及采用法国西南部广泛种植的富含类黄酮的葡萄是造成当地红酒原花青素低聚物水平较高的原因。接下来对富含原花青素低聚物的红酒及食品的研究将有助于了解如何使血管功能保持最佳状态。

New clue to red wine's heart-protecting effect
Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:26pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scientists in the UK have identified "oligomeric procyanidins" as the likely ingredient in red wine's polyphenols that contributes to heart health and longevity. And some red wines contain more procyanidins than others.

In the journal Nature, Dr. Roger Corder, from Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry in London, and his associates note that not everyone agrees that red wine actually possess heart-healthy properties, which they say may be due to the complexity and variability in the constituents in different wines.

To look into this issue, the investigators cultured human blood vessel cells and exposed them to 165 different wines to identify the polyphenols with most potent effects on blood vessels.

They found that procyanidins suppress production of a protein called endothelin-1 that constricts blood vessels. High-performance liquid chromatography identified oligomeric procyanidins as the specific phenolic constituent responsible for this effect.

People living in Nuoro province, Sardinia, and southwest France have higher than normal average longevity. And wines from those regions, Corder and colleagues found, had a 2- to 4-fold higher inhibitory effect on endothelin-1 and significantly higher oligomeric procyanidin levels than wines from Australia, Europe, South America, the US, and Sardinia.

Corder and his associates maintain that traditional wine-making methods and use of the flavonoid-rich grape Tannat commonly grown in southwest France result in high levels of oligomeric procyanidins in the local wine.

The researchers are hopeful that further investigation of oligomeric procyanidins-rich wines and foods will provide insight into how blood vessel function might be optimally maintained.

SOURCE: Nature, November 30, 2006.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-11-29T202610Z_01_COL973457_RTRUKOC_0_US-RED-WINE.xml&WTmodLoc=HealthNewsHome_C2_healthNews-6

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