OPC found in Grape seed extract may help with norovirus infections

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine writes that leaves and fruit of the grape have been used medicinally since ancient Greece. Grape seed extract is used today as a folk or traditional remedy for conditions which are related to the heart and blood vessels, such as atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and poor circulation; complications related to diabetes, such as nerve and eye damage; vision problems, such as macular degeneration; swelling after an injury or surgery; cancer prevention; and wound healing.

In an article on Nov. 8, 2012 Science Daily has reported: Grape Seed Extract Bollixes Norovirus. Norovirus is the cause of more than half of all food-born illnesses in the United States, and is the second greatest source of reported food borne illness outbreaks in the European Union. A recent study has found that grape seed extract could reduce the infectivity of Norovirus surrogates. Norovirus surrogates are viruses which share pathological and/or biological features with human norovirus.

Pakistani children get treated for stomach ailments, diarrhea and dehydration at a crowded IDP ward inside the Mardan District hospital in Mardan, Pakistan. Pakistani children get treated for stomach ailments, diarrhea and dehydration at a crowded IDP ward inside the Mardan District hospital in Mardan, Pakistan. Photo credit: Paula Bronstein /Getty Images

The source of this Science Daily report is from materials provided by the American Society for Microbiology. These researchers found evidence that grape seed extract could effectively damage the norovirus capsid protein, which could therefore reduce viral binding ability and infectivity accordingly. Norovirus has been found to be transmitted mainly fecal-orally, and infected food handlers, contaminated water, and surfaces can be identified as important sources of transmission, “which could further contaminate ready-to-eat foods, drinking water, shellfish, and fresh produce.”   This research has been published in the November 2012 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.