title: Structural changes in plasma circulating fibrinogen after moderate beer consumption as determined by electrophoresis and spectroscopy.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Shela
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gorinstein
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caspi
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goshev
authors.forename: Sevil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aksu
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salnikow
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheler
authors.forename: Efren
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delgado-Licon
authors.forename: Anda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weisz
authors.forename: Imanuel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Libman
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Trakhtenberg
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D005340:Fibrinogen