Grape polyphenols protect neurodegenerative changes induced by chronic ethanol administration.

Increased oxidative stress in the brain due to chronic ethanol consumption is known to result in a number of neurodegenerative changes. This study was designed to test whether dietary supplementation of grape polyphenols (GP) can offer protection to the neurodegenerative changes resulting from chronic ethanol consumption. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a Leiber-DeCarli liquid diet with ethanol or isocaloric amount of maltose, and with or without GP for 2 months. Chronic ethanol caused significant decreases in synaptosomal Na,K-ATPase (20.5%) and dopamine uptake (22.8%) activities compared with pair-fed controls. Although GP alone did not alter activities of these membrane-bound proteins, GP supplementation was able to completely protect the decrease in synaptic protein function elicited by chronic ethanol consumption.