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.
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