Objectives: 

Present study investigated the effects of red wine polyphenolic concentrate (RWC) on blood pressure (BP) and vascular function in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

Materials: 

Young (6-week-old) male WKY and SHR rats were divided into two groups: control group and group treated with RWC (1 ml/kg/day), which was prepared by concentration of Slovak red wine Alibernet from the area of Modra region. RWC was administered in drinking water for three weeks. Daily dose of active polyphenolic substances in RWC represented 24.4 mg/kg. BP was determined by tail-cuff. Endothelium-dependent relaxation was evaluated using acetylcholine (ACh) as the responses of serotonin pre-contracted preparations in the femoral arteries (FA). Nitric oxide (NO)-dependent component of endothelium-dependent relaxation was investigated as a difference between ACh-induced relaxation before and after acute NG-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) pre-treatment. Results were analysed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and vertical contrast (pairwise comparisons) with Bonferroni adjustment.

Results: 

Three weeks of RWC administration failed to alter BP vs. the respective control group. Endothelium-dependent relaxation of the FA was reduced in control SHR vs. control WKY. The endothelium-dependent relaxation of the FA of SHR was not significantly affected by RWC. However in WKY, RWC reduced significantly vasorelaxation at two concentrations of ACh. The NO-dependent component of ACh-induced relaxation was similar in all groups investigated. RWC had no significant effect on endothelium-independent sodium nitroprusside-induced relaxation of the FA. Additionally, RWC failed to affect serotonin-induced vasoconstriction in all groups investigated.

Conclusions: 

In conclusion, three-week administration of RWC from Sovak Alibernet failed to reduce BP and to improve endothelial function in the femoral arteries of SHR rats.

Supported by the VEGA-2/0084/10.