Effects of moderate red wine consumption on liver fat and blood lipids: a prospective randomized study

Figures & data

Table I. Effects of moderate red wine consumption on cardiovascular risk factors, liver function tests and hepatic triglyceride content in the total cohort. Anthropometric and laboratory data before and after randomization to total abstention from alcohol or consumption of 150 ml red wine/day for women or 300 ml/day for men. Figures are means (SD) except for HTGC where median and range are also given. All laboratory variables were measured in the fasting state. There were no differences between the levels of the variables between the two groups at baseline.

Variable	Baseline total abstention	Three months of total abstention	P value for changes after total abstention	Baseline red wine group	Three months of red wine consumption	P value for changes after red wine	P value for difference between changes in the groups
Age (yr)	34 (9)			33 (9)
Sex (M/F)	5/18			7/14
Weight (kg)	68.8 (15)	68.4 (15)	0.20	73.5 (9.0)	73.3 (9.6)	0.82	0.65
Body-mass index (kg/m^2)	23.3 (4.2)	23.2 (4.3)	0.20	25.0 (3.4)	24.9 (3.7)	0.87	0.64
Glucose (mmol/l)	5.2 (0.5)	5.3 (0.5)	0.90	5.3 (0.6)	5.5 (0.6)	0.02	0.20
Insulin (pmol/l)	38.8 (20)	43.3 (24)	0.19	41.9 (18)	46.7 (23)	0.20	0.95
HOMA	1.4 (0.7)	1.5 (0.9)	0.24	1.4 (0.7)	1.7 (0.9)	0.13	0.75
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)	5.5 (1.4)	5.5 (1.4)	0.95	5.0 (1.0)	4.8 (1.0)	0.086	0.25
LDL cholesterol (mmol/l)	3.2 (1.1)	3.2 (1.2)	0.68	3.0 (0.9)	2.7 (0.9)	0.008	0.031
HDL cholesterol (mmol/l)	1.9 (0.54)	1.8 (0.5)	0.32	1.6 (0.4)	1.6 (0.4)	0.97	0.44
Triglycerides (mmol/l)	1.2 (1.3)	0.9 (0.38)	0.29	0.9 (0.41)	1.1 (0.54)	0.11	0.15
ApoB (g/l)	1.0 (0.3)	1.0 (0.3)	0.91	0.9 (0.2)	0.9 (0.2)	0.061	0.16
ApoA1 (g/l)	1.6 (0.3)	1.5 (0.3)	0.007	1.5 (0.2)	1.4 (0.22)	0.071	0.31
ALT (U/l)	21 (8)	19 (8)	0.061	21 (9)	24 (10)	0.16	0.022
AST (U/l)	25 (6)	24 (4)	0.29	23 (4)	26 (6)	0.005	0.006
AST/ALT	1.2 (0.4)	1.3 (0.3)	0.16	1.2 (0.4)	1.2 (0.4)	0.60	0.56
ALP (U/l)	47 (11)	49 (15)	0.48	56 (13)	53 (19)	0.41	0.28
GT (U/l)	18 (7)	23 (12)	0.45	22 (11)	21 (13)	0.75	0.39
Bilirubin (mg/dl)	0.7 (0.3)	0.7 (0.3)	0.62	0.7 (0.2)	0.6 (0.3)	0.31	0.70
Albumin (g/dl)	4.4 (0.4)	4.4 (0.4)	0.96	4.5 (0.4)	4.3 (0.33)	<0.0001	0.023
Hepatic triglyceride content (%) mean values and median (range)	1.8 (2.3)0.9 (0.2–8.2)	1.8 (2.1)0.9 (0.3–8.3)	0.801.0	2.5 (4.7)1.2 (0.3–22.1)	2.6 (3.2)1.2 (0.5–14.6)	0.740.17	0.670.17
Body fat (%)	28.6 (10)	28.4 (10)	0.58	28.8 (11)	29.3 (11)	0.31	0.24

ALP = alkaline phosphatase; ALT = alanine aminotransferase; AST = aspartate aminotransferase; GT = gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. Conversions: glucose: (mg/dl) × 0.055 = mmol/l, insulin: (μIU/ml) × 6.94 = pmol/l, cholesterol (HDL and LDL): (mg/dl) × 0.026 = mmol/l, triglycerides (mg/dl) × 0.011 = mmol/l, ALT/AST/ALP/GT (U/l) × 0.017 = μkat/l, bilirubin (mg/dl) × 17.1 = μmol/l.

Figure 1. Effects of moderate red wine consumption on liver fat content. Levels of hepatic triglyceride content (HTGC) measured with proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) before and after 90 days of either total alcohol abstention (A) or an intake corresponding to 150 ml of red wine/day for women or twice that amount for men (B). Note that the y-axis is logarithmic. The dotted line represents HTGC of 5.6%, i.e. the definition of hepatic steatosis.

Table II. Effects of moderate red wine consumption on cardiovascular risk factors, liver function tests and hepatic triglyceride content in participants without hepatic steatosis at baseline. Anthropometric and laboratory data before and after randomization to total abstention from alcohol or consumption of 150 ml red wine/day for women or 300 ml/day for men in participants with HTGC <5.6% at baseline. Figures are means (SD) except for HTGC where median and range are also given. All laboratory variables were measured in the fasting state.

Variable	Baseline total abstention	Three months of total abstention	P value for changes by total abstention	Baseline red wine group	Three months of red wine consumption	P value for changes by red wine	P value for difference between changes in the groups
Age (yr)	34 (8)			32 (8)
Sex (M/F)	4/17			7/13
Weight (kg)	67.6 (14.6)	67.2 (14.6)	0.17	72.8 (8.6)	72.8 (9.5)	0.98	0.49
Body-mass index (kg/m^2)	22.9 (4.2)	22.8 (4.2)	0.17	24.6 (3.1)	24.6 (3.5)	0.92	0.47
Glucose (mmol/l)	5.3 (0.5)	5.3 (0.5)	0.9	5.2 (0.5)	5.4 (0.5)	0.06	0.23
Insulin (pmol/l)	39 (20)	43 (24)	0.19	41 (17)	46 (23)	0.13	0.80
HOMA	1.3 (0.7)	1.5 (0.9)	0.24	1.3 (0.5)	1.5 (0.7)	0.12	0.72
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)	5.4 (1.4)	5.3 (1.3)	0.9	4.9 (0.8)	4.7 (0.9)	0.15	0.39
LDL cholesterol (mmol/l)	3.1 (1.1)	3.1 (1.2)	0.88	2.9 (0.8)	2.6 (0.8)	0.01	0.06
HDL cholesterol (mmol/l)	1.9 (0.6)	1.8 (0.5)	0.27	1.6 (0.4)	1.6 (0.4)	0.78	0.30
Triglycerides (mmol/l)	1.2 (1.3)	0.9 (0.4)	0.37	0.9 (0.4)	1.1 (0.5)	0.047	0.16
ApoB (g/l)	1.0 (0.3)	1.0 (0.3)	0.86	0.9 (0.2)	0.9 (0.2)	0.10	0.30
ApoA1 (g/l)	1.6 (0.3)	1.5 (0.3)	0.10	1.5 (0.2)	1.4 (0.2)	0.10	0.25
ALT (U/l)	20 (7)	18 (5)	0.05	20 (6)	22 (9)	0.08	0.009
AST (U/l)	25 (6)	24 (4)	0.37	22 (4)	25 (6)	0.004	0.007
ALP (U/l)	48 (12)	50 (15)	0.30	55 (12)	55 (14)	0.98	0.28
GT (U/l)	18 (6)	23 (11)	0.45	16 (6)	18 (4)	0.15	0.22
Bilirubin (mg/dl)	0.7 (0.4)	0.7 (0.3)	0.59	0.7 (0.2)	0.6 (0.4)	0.31	0.73
Albumin (g/dl)	4.4 (0.4)	4.4 (0.4)	0.84	4.5 (0.4)	4.3 (0.3)	0.001	0.02
Hepatic triglyceride content (%)	0.7 (0.2–4.9)	0.9 (0.3–4.3)	0.96	1.1 (0.2–3.9)	1.1 (0.5–5.2)	0.059	0.02
Body fat (%)	28 (10)	28 (10)	0.69	28 (10)	29 (11)	0.29	0.27

ALP = alkaline phosphatase; ALT = alanine aminotransferase; AST = aspartate aminotransferase; GT = gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. Conversions: glucose: (mg/dl) × 0.055 = mmol/l, insulin: (μIU/ml) × 6.94 = pmol/l, cholesterol (HDL and LDL): (mg/dl) × 0.026 = mmol/l, triglycerides (mg/dl) × 0.011 = mmol/l, ALT/AST/ALP/GT (U/l) × 0.017 = μkat/l, bilirubin (mg/dl) × 17.1 = μmol/l.