Resveratrol Health Benefits l Resveratrol Studies l Antioxidant Benefits of Resveratrol Sources

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.

In 2008, Tosca L. Zern, Richard J. Wood, Christine Greene, and Kristy L. West of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT and Yanzhu Liu, Dimple Aggarwal, Neil S. Shachter, and Maria Luz Fernandez of the Department of Medicine at Columbia University in New York, NY, on the effect of grape polyphenols on plasma, inflammation and oxidative stress in both Pre- menopausal and Post-menopausal women.

Resveratrol and Cholesterol

To evaluate the effects of grape polyphenols on plasma lipids, inflammatory cytokines, and oxidative stress, a sample of 24 pre-menopausal and 20 post-menopausal women were randomly assigned to consume grape powder or a placebo for 4 weeks. The grape powder was mostly carbohydrates, but was rich in polyphenols such as, flavans, anthocyanins, quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, and resveratrol.

Total cholesterol, total triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, also known as bad cholesterol, are three of the main risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). The loss of estrogen has a deep effect increasing plasma lipids and apolipoproteins associated with CHD.

Resveratrol lowers LDL “Bad” Cholesterol

Plasma triglyceride concentrations, plasma LDL cholesterol and apolipoproteins were reduced after the intake of grape powder. Results were more marked in pre-menopausal women (15%), than in post-menopausal women (6%). Bad cholesterol oxidation was not modified by the treatment. However, whole-body was significantly reduced after the intake of the resveratrol supplement. The grape supplement also decreased the levels of plasma tumor necrosis which plays a major role in the inflammation process.

A 1990 study by Yong Nam Han, Shi Yong Ryu, and Byung Hoon Han of the Natural Products Research Institute at Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea conducted at study in which they discovered that the antioxidant activity of resveratrol closely correlates with its ability to inhibit monoamine oxidase-A activity (the activity of molecules with a single amino acid).

Goal of This Study of Resveratrol

Resveratrol, a polyhydroxylstilbene, was reported to inhibit the activity of monoamine oxidase-A. In this study the team from Seoul National University hoped to discover a plausible mechanism by which red wine resveratrol is able to slow the activity level of monoamine oxidase-A.

Researchers first isolated a number of phenolic substances (among them resveratrol) in an attempt to find the most potent inhibitor of monoamine oxidase-A. Components of the study were serotonin and the mitochondrial MAO of rat brain.

Resveratrol as an antioxidant

The study revealed that not only was resveratrol the most powerful antioxidant of the monoamine oxidase-A inhibitors, it completely suppressed MAO-A and became, in the view of the research team, the selective agent for MAO-A inhibiting.

G. Calabrese of the Department of Human Nutrition at Universita Cattolica in Piacennza, Italy took a close look at the health benefits of moderate wine consumption as it might impact menopause.

Leading up to this 1999 study, there was a great deal of literature surrounding the health benefits of resveratrol, a polyphenol naturally occurring in many foods and beverages. Its cancer preventative and heart disease preventative characteristics have made red wine resveratrol the focus of many studies. However, Calabrese intended to determine if these health benefits would extend themselves beyond cancer and heart disease and might be an influence on menopause.

Calabrese’s Findings Surrounding Resveratrol

The hypothesis of this study is based on the idea that the structure of resveratrol is so much like that of diethylstilbestrol, a drug prescribed to prevent miscarriages, that it might act as a phytoestrogen in humans.

Calabrese’s team conducted a population study, read literature on resveratrol’s effects on female reproduction, osteoporosis, and cancer, and they conducted various trials of their own.

Their findings concluded that moderate wine consumption appeared to act as a phytoestrogen, a compound in plants that simulates estrogen in humans. Resveratrol doses boosted the physiological reactions that typically accompany estrogen increases.

This activity could effectively moderate the effects and symptoms of menopause in women.

In 2002, researchers from the Johannes Guttenberg University in Mainz, Germany set out to study the effects of resveratrol on Nitric Oxide Synthase (NAS) to determine its value in the fight against heart disease.

Thomas Wallerath, Ph.D., Goran Deckert, Thomas Ternes, Ph.D., Henrik Anderson, Huige Li, MD, Klaus Witte, MD, and Ulrich Forstermann, MD, Ph.D. conducted the study.

Resveratrol mimics estrogen’s vascular protective behavior

Estrogens have been known to increase endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), thus protecting the walls of the blood vessels. Since red wine resveratrol is similar in structure to estrogen, it can induce this vascular protective behavior.

This study tested the effects of resveratrol on human endothelial cells.

Testing Resveratrol’s Influence on Vascular Cells

The researchers used human umbilical vein to test resveratrol’s effect on endothelial cells. Cells were incubated for 12 to 72 hours with resveratrol or were left untreated (as in the case of the control). The team then monitored things such as eNOS mRNA, phytoestrogens, eNOS activity, etc.

Results: Resveratrol an effective preventative agent for heart and cardiovascular disease

Resveratrol increase the activity of the eNOS promoter. The eNOS mRNA was thus stabilized by the resveratrol keeping the vascular cells healthy. This discovery shows that resveratrol supplements can be used effectively as a preventative agent for heart and cardiovascular diseases by maintaining vascular cell health.

At the School of Life Sciences at Lanzhou University, G.A. Liu and R.L. Zheng conducted research into the ability of polyphenols (groups of chemicals found in plants) to protect healthy cells against diseases like heart disease and cancer at the cellular level.

Seven polyphenols were studied, among them resveratrol.

DNA damage was induced by using hydrogen peroxide on human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) which is known to cause single strand breakage in DNA. The researchers then observed the ability of the seven polyphenols to protect the cells against the damage the hydrogen peroxide was invoking on the cellular DNA.

Resveratrol Provides Significant Cell Protection

Resveratrol, as well as others of the seven tested polyphenols, had a substantial impact on inhibiting cell damage. The impact was dose-dependent as higher doses were more effective in cell protection.

Some of the polyphenols, however, failed to provide any protection. In fact, only three had any effect in protecting the cells against hydrogen peroxide damage (resveratrol, quercetin, and 7.8-dihydroxy-4-methyl coumarin), but these had a big enough impact to convince the researchers that they had discovered a possible mechanism explaining resveratrol’s outstanding track record in protecting against cancer and heart disease.

Doctors Usha R. Pendurthi, J. Todd Williams, and L. Vijaya Mohan Rao from the Departments of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at The University of Texas Health Center in Tyler, Texas published a study in 1998 stating that resveratrol, found in red wine, suppresses tissue factor expression in vascular cells.

Resveratrol and coronary heart disease

Several studies suggest that coronary heart disease deaths are lowered by moderate consumption of alcohol, particularly red wine. Resveratrol is produced in grapes and a variety of other plants in response to fungal infections or other types of stress. Resveratrol is found in high concentrations in grape skins, and therefore, most of the red wines contain significant amounts of resveratrol.

Recent studies in which humans consumed resveratrol-enriched grape juice showed that trans-resveratrol could be absorbed from grape juice in biologically active amounts and in amounts that are likely to cause a reduced risk of clogged arteries and heart disease.

Many studies suggest that moderate consumption of red wine may be more effective than other alcoholic beverages in decreasing the risk of coronary heart disease death. Resveratrol has been thought to be responsible for cardiovascular benefits associated with wine consumption. Resveratrol is shown to have antioxidant and anti-platelet activities.

Conclusion: Resveratrol reduces the risk of clogged arteries and cardiovascular disease

In this study, the doctors examined the effect of resveratrol supplements on induction of tissue factor expression, a process that begins the blood clotting processes. The data shows that resveratrol suppresses the expression of tissue factor in vascular cells.

Resveratrol has been reported to have cancer prevention capabilities. The structural similarities between red wine resveratrol and a synthetic estrogen prompted Drs. Barry D. Gehm, Joanne M. McAndrews, Pei-Yu Chen, and J. Larry Jameson to study how resveratrol could affect the body’s estrogen receptor. In 1997, the doctors released a study from the Division of Endocrinology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, IL.

The focus of this experiment was to investigate whether resveratro supplements could mimic the body’s estrogenic activity, which is known to produce a heart-protective benefit. Resveratrol did mimic estrogenic activity at concentrations that are needed to produce other benefits of resveratrol. Resveratrol was proven to be a ‘phytoestrogen’, which is a naturally occurring plant compound that has beneficial properties to fight cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis. Overall, resveratrol’s anti-cancer and anti-blood clotting activities show therapeutic promise.

Resveratrol and Red Wine for Heart Disease Prevention

This study shows that a few glasses of red wine may supply a sufficient amount of resveratrol. This also suggests that daily consumption of some red wines might produce significant concentrations of resveratro doses in the bloodstream. Resveratrol occurs naturally in grapes and other medicinal plants. In plants, resveratrol protects against fungal infections. Red wine has large amounts of resveratrol because resveratrol has high concentrations in grape skins. Because of the levels of resveratrol in red wine, moderate consumption of red wine may reduce the risk of heart disease. High concentrations of resveratrol without alcohol or calories may also be found in nutritional supplements.

In 1995, Doctors Cecil R. Pace-Asciak, Susan Hahn, Eleftherios P. Diamandis, George Soleas, and David M. Goldberg published a study from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Toronto and Research Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. There is much evidence that suggests that red wine may be more effective than other alcoholic beverages in decreasing the risk of coronary heart disease death.

Polyphenol Resveratrol and its Effect on Blood Clots

Red wines are rich in phenolic compounds, like resveratrol, and may explain the protective qualities of red wine. This experiment studied the benefits of resveratrol on human blood platelet clotting.  The effects were compared with other wine phenolics and anti-oxidants. Trans-resveratrol was proven to reduce toxin induced blood platelet clotting. This means that trans-resveratrol reduced the risk or creation of harmful blood clots in laboratory experiments.

In this study, red wines with the alcohol content removed also reduced blood clotting, and its activity was comparable to trans-resveratrol’s concentrations in this experiment. The doctors noted that these results are consistent with the idea that trans-resveratrol may contribute to the protective role of red wine against coronary heart disease and artery clogging.

Publishers from Life Science released a study from researchers from the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Rome, Italy in November, 2001 that provides evidence that resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine, may aid in the healthy function of human immune cells.

Drs. R. Falchetti, M.P. Fuggetta, G. Lanzilli, M. Tricarico, and G. Ravagnan published findings showing that red wine resveratrol has a wide range of activities affecting the human immune system.

Antioxidant Resveratrol Jump Starts Immune Cell Production

Resveratrol was shown to jump start immune cell production and growth even at low concentrations. The human immune system produces many types of cells to help protect the body. Resveratrol was seen to affect the production of one such cell called cytokine, which is a type of white blood cell that is involved in cellular reproduction, growth, immunity and tolerance. These types of blood cells are essential for regulating the immune system’s response to infections.

Resveratrol is found in red wine but can also be consumed in supplement form. The benefits of consuming resveratrol supplements are many. Specifically, resveratrol can aid the immune system in producing the many types of white blood cells that are necessary to help the body fight infections and disease.

Other important functions of resveratrol in regard to the immune system include aiding cells in response to ultra violet radiation exposure, free radicals, and bacterial or viral antibodies. Even at very low levels, resveratrol can help activate human immune system responses.