Effect of alcohol-free red wine concentrates on cholesterol homeostasis: An in vitro and in vivo study

•AFRWC was more effective than lovastatin for decreasing total cholesterol in vitro.•Both total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol are decreased in vivo model using ICR-mice.•Cholesterol biosynthesis and esterification were affected by AFRWC at a transcriptional level.•Reverse cholesterol transport was not affected by AFRWC at a transcriptional level.•2–3 glasses of wine per day for a 60kg human could influence cholesterol metabolism. Polyphenolic composition of alcohol-free red wine concentrates (AFRWC) was determined by LC–MS/MS. The concentration of salicylic acid in non-flavonoid class and malvidin in flavonoid class was the highest among all the polyphenols determined in AFRWC. In the in vitro model using HepG2 cells, AFRWC was found to be more effective for the reduction of total cholesterol than lovastatin. For the in vivo model, animals were provided with AFRWC at ∼750mg of total polyphenols/kg body weight per day by oral administration. The amount of AFRWC was established by extrapolation to be equivalent to 375ml/day wine consumption, which is ∼2–3 glasses of wine per day for a 60kg human. Despite a high cholesterol diet, a significant reduction in both total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol was observed when supplemented with AFRWC, but the increase of HDL-cholesterol was not observed. The expression level of mRNA of some hepatic genes participating in cholesterol biosynthesis, cholesterol esterification was found to be influenced by AFRWC supplementation, whereas reverse cholesterol transport involved with HDL-cholesterol was seldom affected showing discrepancy in the expression of associated genes.