Eskew A, et al. - This research resolved to ascertain if alcohol intake correlated with ovarian reserve, as determined by antral follicle count (AFC). The findings disclosed a link between red wine intake with ovarian reserve as estimated by AFC. Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenol was present in higher concentrations in red wine. It displayed anti-inflammatory effects. Resveratrol could probably cause a decrease in the reactive oxygen species at the level of the ovary, with moderate consumption of red wine. This was one mechanism which was put forth for explaining the higher AFC in the study cohort.

Methods

• The scheme of this trial was a cross-sectional cohort study.
• The recruitment comprised of women aged 18-44 with regular menstrual cycles.
• The exclusion criteria constituted pregnant women and women with a history of infertility, ovarian surgery, or major chronic illness.
• The enrollees completed a detailed dietary questionnaire at the time of enrollment.
• The transvaginal ultrasound yielded the AFC.
• Data was extracted with regard to the number of servings consumed per month of beer, red wine, white wine and liquor.
• Spearman’s correlation coefficient gauged the association between type of alcohol consumed and AFC, followed by regression analysis to control for potential confounders.

Results

• 135 women were recruited for this study.
• Candidates displayed a mean age of 31.1 ± 6.7 years, had a mean BMI of 28.1 ± 7.3 kg/m² and mean AFC of 26.7 ± 14.1.
• There was no link between beer, liquor and white wine intake with AFC.
• A positive association was displayed between red wine intake with AFC (ρ=.176, p=0.045).
• Red wine intake ranged from 0 to 15 drinks (6oz) per month. 37.8% (n=51) of the total enrollees drank at least 1 serving of red wine per month.
• The consumption of >5 servings of red wine per month displayed positive link with AFC with a trend toward significance (p=0.06, OR=14.91 95% CI 0.885-251.3), after controlling for age and BMI.