Structural changes in plasma circulating fibrinogen after moderate beer consumption as determined by electrophoresis and spectroscopy.
The effects of short-term moderate beer consumption (MBC) on plasma circulating fibrinogen (PCF) in patients suffering from coronary atherosclerosis were investigated by use of 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), circular dichroism (CD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Forty-eight volunteers after coronary bypass surgery were divided into experimental (EG) and control (CG) groups, each of 24. Patients of the EG group consumed 330 mL of beer/day (about 20 g of alcohol) for 30 consecutive days, and CG volunteers drank mineral water instead of beer. Blood samples were collected before and after the experiment. In 21 out of 24 patients after beer consumption the plasma circulating fibrinogen was compromised: changes in its secondary structure were found. These changes were expressed in relatively low electrophoretic mobility and charge heterogeneity, decrease in alpha-helix and increase in beta-sheet, and in slight shift of amide I and II bands. Our findings indicate that one of the positive benefits of moderate beer consumption is to diminish the production of fibrinogen and its stability, which reduces the potential risk exerted by this protein. Thus, in most of beer-consuming patients some qualitative structural changes in plasma circulating fibrinogen were detected.
Gorinstein
Shela
S
Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, P.O. Box 12065, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. gorin@cc.huji.ac.il
Caspi
Abraham
A
Goshev
Ivan
I
Aksu
Sevil
S
Salnikow
Johann
J
Scheler
Christian
C
Delgado-Licon
Efren
E
Rosen
Anda
A
Weisz
Moshe
M
Libman
Imanuel
I
Trakhtenberg
Simon
S
D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001515:Beer; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D005340:Fibrinogen