Effect of Light to Moderate Wine Consumption on Cardiovascular Markers in Coronary Heart Disease Patients

The study was a randomized, controlled, three-arm parallel intervention study, designed to evaluate if the light to moderate wine consumption could modulate thrombosis and inflammation, in patients with cardiovascular disease. The study was carried out in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki (1989) of the World Medical Association and was approved by the Bioethics Committee of Harokopio University. Seventy one men patients with cardiovascular disease were initially recruited to participate in the study. The recruitment took place in several hospitals of Athens in Greece under the supervisor of corresponding cardiologist. Finally 64 met the inclusion criteria. Prior to intervention all participants signed an informed consent All volunteers followed an initial 15 days wash-out period, abstaining from alcohol; then, they randomly assigned to one of the three intervention groups. The randomization code was prepared by a staff member who was not involved in running the trial, by using computer-generated random numbers. Subjects instructed to follow their usual diet and not change their medication during the study. In Group A (control group), participants consumed no alcohol, in Group B (ethanol group) participants consumed 69 mL of tsipouro with 38% alcohol and participants in Group C consumed 200ml of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon 13.5% alcohol vol.). The ethanol that was consumed in the last two groups was equal at 27gr of ethanol per day and alcoholic beverage was consumed along with the meal (lunch or dinner). Finally, 57 participants completed the study, in particular 20 in Group A, 16 in Group B and 21 in Group C. Intervention lasted two months and biological samples (blood, urine) were collected at the beginning (0 week), in the middle (4 week) and in the end (8 week) of each intervention.