How can alcohol help the heart?
Last reviewed: 17.10.2021
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It turns out that acetaldehyde, which is obtained from ethanol, is able to activate an enzyme that removes toxic biochemical substances from the heart.
Doctors have long insisted that alcohol in small doses can be beneficial to human health. But most research on this issue only provides information on the relationship between moderate intake of quality alcoholic beverages and general well-being or longevity. Most often experts try to prove for what age alcohol is more or less useful, who is more susceptible to dependence on it, and what amount of ethyl alcohol is included in the concept of "moderate dose". And what can scientists say about the mechanism of that most beneficial effect of alcohol?
Researchers representing the University of São Paulo have tackled this issue. Dr. Julio Ferreira and his team conducted a series of experiments: they extracted the hearts of rodents and maintained their viable condition, pumping through the organs a special fluid containing oxygen and the necessary nutrient components. In the experiment, a kind of prototype of an attack of myocardial ischemia was arranged: within half an hour the supply of nutrient fluid was blocked in the heart. Further pumping was restored, but heartbeat already slowed down, entering the so-called state of stress. After such a "shake-up" every second heart soon died.
With ischemia in the myocardium, the abundance of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal is increased. This is a toxic aldehyde, capable of damaging structures within cells. In a healthy body, the aldehyde content is controlled by a special enzyme ALDH2. But, as it was found out, during the attack of ischemia the enzyme loses its activity, and the concentration of aldehyde rapidly increases.
Further it turned out that the ability of the enzyme to control the content of a toxic substance can be restored by ethanol. Before arranging artificial ischemia, scientists in a nutritious liquid for 10 minutes included a small amount of ethyl alcohol. As a result, the death of cardiac cells decreased by 20%.
By the way, the volume of alcohol introduced corresponded to a pair of glasses of wine for the average man - in terms of males for rodents.
If the function of the enzyme is completely artificially suppressed, then cell death continued, even despite the inclusion of alcohol in the liquid. In other words, the effect of ethyl alcohol on the heart depends on the activity of the enzyme ALDH2: with its normal function, small doses of alcohol allow the heart to survive physiological stress. But in the case when the function of the enzyme was initially broken, even small doses of ethyl alcohol not only will not help, but will even worsen the situation.
The information is published in Cardiovascular Research, and is also available on the website of Medicalxpress (https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06- moderate-dose-alcohol-heart.html).
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