Resveratrol May Help Heal Hearts After Attack
New scientific research points to resveratrol as a tool to help repair damaged heart tissue after a heart attack.
Dipak Das, co-author and research professor at the University of Connecticut’s Cardiovascular Research Center, was recently cited in the Journal of Molecular Medicine in an exciting new find on Resveratrol. The researchers mimicked the effects of a heart attack by essentially puncturing the hearts of mice, then stitching them up. Stem cells were then directly injected into the animals’ hearts in an attempt to determine if the cells would regenerate heart tissue and heal the wound.
Resveratrol Supplementation Improved Healing of Infarcted Heart Tissue
One test group was given resveratrol supplements for two weeks. The researchers found that the presence of the antioxidant actually reduced stress on the wound site. As a result, resveratrol appeared to provide favorable conditions for the wounds to heal. Paired with the stem cells, “cardiac function was significantly improved,” the text said. The stem cells survived working alone on the wounds for a period of seven days, whereas with the aid of resveratrol, they continued to thrive for a period of 28 days.
“Our results demonstrate that resveratrol maintained a reduced tissue environment …[and] enhancement of the cardiac regeneration of the adult cardiac stem cells … increased cell survival and differentiation leading to cardiac function,” the study maintained. While more study is still needed, there is hope that heart attach survivors could enjoy the benefits of resveratrol treatments in the future.