Toxicity of wine

Summary Toxic effects following consumption of wine can be divided into acute and chronic manifestations. The acute type has hitherto been attributed to the presence of esters of higher alcohols and/or to the addition of sulphurous acid—without substantial evidence being offered in support of such claims. Statistical evidence indicates that cirrhosis of the liver is a frequent chronic manifestation following consumption of alcoholic beverages. According to the present investigations, consumption of wine is more hazardous than that of “short” drinks. In the author's pharmacological experiments, which surprisingly have hitherto never been carried out, histamine was found in wine. This finding was confirmed by chromatography. Further, it was demonstrated that histamine from alcoholic solutions has much more marked effects than that from aqueous solutions. The reasons for these observations are discussed. The toxic action of histamine on the liver has been known for decades. In view of these findings a relationship is postulated between the incidence of hepatic cirrhosis and the histamine content of wine. Histamine is not a by-product of alcoholic fermentation but results from bacterial infection of the wine. Production of wine free from histamine is, hence, a problem of hygiene during manufacture. White wines contain less histamine than red wines—the latter may have a content of up to 22 μg/ml. About 120 wines of German, French, North African and Chilean origin were investigated.