RESOLUTION OIV-SECSAN 454-2013

RECOMMENDATION ON THE BIOAVAILABILITY RESEARCH OF WINE PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

According to Strategy Axis L) of the OIV Strategic Plan 2012–2014, Nutrition and health–individual and societal aspects, one role of the OIV is to collect scientific information in order to promote and provide direction for research on the effects of wine and other vine products’ consumption on human health,

Taking into account the works of the group of experts “Consumption, Nutrition and Health” and the discussion paper on the bioavailability of wine phenolic compounds, which aimed to promote and provide direction into research on the bioavailability of the wine-derived phenolic compounds,

CONSIDERING that one of the more controversial and complicated issues related to the role of the wine-derived phenolic compounds in human health is their bioavailability,

CONSIDERING that the anti-oxidative, endothelial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-thrombotic properties of catechins, quercetin and resveratrol may in part explain the cardioprotective effects observed following the moderate consumption of red wine, and that further to this, possible cancer-protective effects of these phenolic compounds have been observed,

CONSIDERING that the vast majority of the available data has been obtained from in vitro studies using concentrations of phenolic compounds that are not necessarily equivalent to those observed in red wine,

RECOGNISES that it is necessary to promote research on this subject by conducting:

• Studies on humans, evaluating the effectiveness on human health of moderate oral “doses” of wine and of the corresponding quantities of wine-derived phenolic compounds (catechins, quercetin and resveratrol,…).
• Studies to determine whether the phenolic compounds are able to reach the target peripheral sites in vivo, after having passed through the barriers present at the level of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Studies aimed at identifying, in humans, the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic properties of the phenolic compounds that are present in wine.
• Studies aimed at identifying the phenolic compounds and their metabolites that, after moderate wine ingestion, may reach different tissues; this step is vital to confirm the true protective role of the phenolic compounds in human health.

Therefore, based on the published studies on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of catechins, quercetin, resveratrol and their metabolites in humans, it is considered justified to provide direction for new research. These studies should be conducted using escalating quantities of wine/ phenolic compounds (within the limits of moderate consumption); they should be accurately controlled and based on irrefutable measurements of reliable and established markers of oxidative stress, endothelial function, thrombogenic activity and inflammation.

References

1. OIV Document CIV-CONUSA 2010-03 11