Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2005, 206(2)

Suppressive Effects of Red Wine Polyphenols on Voltage-Gated Ion Channels in Dorsal Root Ganglionic Neuronal Cells

YAN L. WU,^1,2 ATSUSHI OHSAGA,¹ TAKAKO OSHIRO,¹ KAZUIE IINUMA,² YOSHIAKI KONDO,² SATORU EBIHARA,³ HIDETADA SASAKI³ and YOSHIO MARUYAMA¹

¹Department of Physiology, ²Department of Pediatrics, and ³Department of Geriatric and Respiratory Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

Polyphenols are ubiquitous plant metabolites with multiple pharmacological properties. Using whole-cell patch-clamp current recording techniques, we studied the effects of polypnenols extracted from red wine (purity > 90% from Cabernet Sauvignon grape wine) on the activities of voltage-operated Na⁺-, K⁺-, and Ca²⁺-channel currents in mouse dorsal root ganglionic neuronal cells. The polyphenols suppressed all of the channel activities with half-effective concentrations of about 2.5, 4.0, and 0.8-1.5 μg/ml, respectively. In contrast, they showed no noticeable effects on the ion channels in other types of cells, including large conductance K⁺-channels in mouse lacrimal acinar cells. Thus, the polyphenols suppress firings of the action potential in the neuronal cells and could show a sedative effect on the excitation. We expect that red wine can be used as a remedy for excessive sensory stimuli.

keywords —— red wine; polyphenols; dorsal root ganglion; voltage-dependent ion channels; neuronal excitation

© 2005 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Correspondence: Yoshio Maruyama, Department of Physiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Seiryomachi 2-1, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.

e-mail: ymaruyama@cellphysiol.med.tohoku.ac.jp.