Aim: 

Plasma antioxidant capacity (AC) increase after red wine consumption. The trend of the plasma AC is different in women than in men and in the case of women it can be influenced by their hormonal state. This work focuses on the trend of the plasma AC of a woman during the ovarian cycle.

Methods: 

The plasma AC of a healthy female volunteer, aged 33 and with a regular ovarian cycle has been studied. The analysis was performed during the follicular phase (7^th), the ovulation (14^th) and the luteal phase (21^st). The subject consumed 300 ml of red wine with bread and ham during the experiment. Red wine chosen was the Merlot 2004. The AC of plasma and the sexual hormones levels were measured before (baseline value) wine consumption and 50, 120, 240 min. later. AC was measured by means of the crocin bleaching assay (CBA). The estradiol, progesterone, LH, FSH and uric acid concentrations were evaluated.

Results: 

The evolution of the plasma AC during the follicular phase is different in comparison with the ovulation and the luteal phase. At the 7^th day a peak value has been observed at 120 min. after wine intake and they fell back to the baseline after 240 min. On the contrary, at the 14^th and 21^st days the maximum peak of plasma AC was reached at 50 min and kept constant until to the end of experiment. The acid uric concentration has shown the same trend in all the phases of the ovarian cycle.

Conclusion: 

These results indicate that the levels of sexual hormones influence the plasma AC after red wine consumption. Further investigation would be useful to determine how the sexual hormones influence the plasma AC and if other food produces the same effects.