Nonalcoholic Components of Wine and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) represents a collection of diseases and symptoms that affect the heart and blood vessels. A plethora of terms are used to specify particular forms of CVD, for example, coronary heart disease to identify dysfunction in the entire heart and coronary artery disease to identify disease within the arteries of the heart itself, while peripheral artery disease refers to disease in the arms and legs [1]. Despite the abundance of names, coronary and peripheral artery diseases arise from a process termed atherosclerosis and are combined by health professionals under the term atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). This is the disease process for which data are most available in relation to the effects of the nonalcoholic components (NAC) of wine. ASCVD develops due to chronic inflammation of the vascular wall in association with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation, platelet aggregation, and reduced availability of nitric oxide [2--5]. Failed processes of vascular wall health produce characteristic ``hardening'' of arteries typified by monocyte/macrophage infiltration of the vascular wall, accumulation of cholesteryl esters in the subendothelium (aka plaque), thickening of the artery wall, and loss of vascular compliance [6]. ASCVD drives the majority of CVD including angina (chronic chest pain), arrhythmias, as well as heart attacks and strokes. In 2010, CVD accounted for 31.9 % of deaths in the United States [7]. ASCVD was reported to cause over half of the CVD and cost $109 billion per year [1].