GRAPE INTAKE REDUCES HEART FAILURE PATHOGENESIS IN RATS

While it has been shown that higher intake of fruits and vegetables can reduce hypertension, it is not known if it can also limit hypertension associated heart failure.
We used diets supplemented with freeze-dried whole table grape powder as a simple model of a phytochemical-enriched diet.
We tested the diet effect in the Dahl-Salt Sensitive (Dahl-SS) rat model of gradual hypertension-related heart failure.
Male Dahl-SS rats (age five weeks) were randomly assigned to a Low Salt diet, a High Salt diet (LS, +6% NaCl), or a High Salt diet (HS, +6% NaCl) + freeze-dried whole table grape powder (HSG, 3% by weight of diet). The diets not containing grapes were matched for carbohydrate and calorie content.
Rats were maintained on the diets for 18 weeks.
Relative to the HS group, the HSG group showed significant, beneficial effects on systolic blood pressure, left ventricular mass, relative wall thickness, heart weight/body weight, % isovolumetric relaxation time, and cardiac functional index.
These results show grape-diet effects on cardiac remodeling, diastolic function, and cardiac output.
HSG also showed cardiac-specific effects by reduced cardiac MDA, reduced hydroxyproline and increased cardiac GSH/GSSG. Whole grape powder-enriched diets reduced experimental hypertension-induced Dahl-SS heart failure pathogenesis.
The findings reflect tissue bioavailability of the dietary grape phytochemicals and support the efficacy of phytochemical-enriched diets against hypertension-associated heart failure.

II International Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables: FAVHEALTH 2007

E.M. Seymour, A.A.M. Singer, A. Kirakosyan, P.B. Kaufman, S.F. Bolling

Vitis, oxidative stress, antioxidant, hypertension

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.841.24