Resveratrol protects against experimental stroke. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Resveratrol protects against experimental stroke: putative neuroprotective role of heme oxygenase 1.
Exp Neurol. 2010 Jul;224(1):325-9. Epub 2010 Apr 8. PMID: 20381489
Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Epidemiological and experimental reports have linked mild-to-moderate wine and/or grape consumption to a lowered incidence of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular risk. This study revealed that resveratrol, an enriched bioactive polyphenol in red wine, selectively induces heme oxygenase 1 (HO1) in a dose- and time-dependent manner in cultured mouse cortical neuronal cells and provides neuroprotection from free-radical or excitotoxicity damage. This protection was lost when cells were treated with a protein synthesis or heme oxygenase inhibitor, suggesting that HO1 induction is at least partially required for resveratrol's prophylactic properties. Furthermore, resveratrol pretreatment dose-dependently protected mice subjected to an optimized ischemic-reperfusion stroke model. Mice in which HO1 was selectively deleted lost most, if not all, of the beneficial effects. Together, the data suggest a potential intracellular pathway by which resveratrol can provide cell/organ resistance against neuropathological conditions.