Paris, France (GenevaLunch) – The secret behind the reputed healthful effects of moderate quantities of red wine have been a hot research topic for more than 20 years. French researchers at Inserm national research institute in Angers say they have now found the molecular mechanism that links known benefits, in reducing cardiovascular risk, of the polyphenols found in wine and naturally-occurring estrogen in pre-menopause women. Their work “provides evidence that red wine polyphenols, especially delphinidin, exert their endothelial benefits via ERα [alpha isoform of estrogen receptor] activation.” The finding is, they believe, a “major breakthrough, bringing new insights of the potential therapeutic of polyphenols against cardiovascular pathologies.”

The authors, whose findings are published this week in the scientific journal PLoS One, note that “a greater reduction in cardiovascular risk and vascular protection associated with diet rich in polyphenols are generally accepted; however, the molecular targets for polyphenols effects remain unknown.”

Polyphenols in wine have been actively studied since the early 1990s but the positive impact of red wine, drunk in moderation, have been observed for centuries, Science Daily noted in a June 2009 review of recent scientific literature on the subject.