Vascular barrier protective effects of wine pomace products in endothelial cells and spontaneously hypertensive rats

The endothelial barrier dysfunction regulation may be a potential therapeutic strategy to improve the outcome of hypertension. Among the mechanisms that promote vascular dysfunction the oxidative stress is considered one of the major contributors. Our previous studies showed that polyphenols present in wine pomace products (WPP), exhibited antioxidant properties and could be able to modulate endothelial dysfunction, thus preventing the dysregulation of permeability and vascular remodeling. This study investigated the protective effect of WPP against oxidative stress in hyperglycemic HUVECs and preserving vascular barrier in SHRs (male spontaneously hypertensive rats). The treatment with WPP decreased ROS levels and restored the cell permeability by modulating cell-cell adhesion adherence junction proteins and actin cytoskeletal rearrangement in HUVEC Cells. The diet supplementation with WPP (300 mg/Kg/day) attenuates vascular structural changes characterized by a decrease in arterial wall thickness of SHRs. These results indicate that WPP supplementation might preserve vascular barrier integrity, suggesting their potential usefulness in the vascular disease prevention.