PY3001 Capstone Project: Resveratrol Health Benefits Report

This report examines the health benefits of Resveratrol, a polyphenol found in red wine, grapes, and other sources. It details its potential therapeutic effects on various health conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and lung diseases like asthma. The report provides an overview of Resveratrol's mechanisms of action, such as its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and its effects on blood pressure, blood fats, and insulin sensitivity. It presents evidence from in-vitro and in-vivo studies, including its ability to inhibit cancer cell proliferation and protect against heart failure. The report also discusses the use of Resveratrol in treating pulmonary fibrosis and other lung diseases. References are provided to support the findings. The report is a capstone project for a Pharmacy student at Kingston University, UK.

Health benefits of Resveratrol
Introduction
Resveratrol is a chemical agent with IUPAC name 3, 5, 4’- trihydroxy-trans-stillbene. It mostly
found in red wine, mulberries, and red grape skins. It belongs to the family of polyphenols
specifically in stillbenoids group. It is often used as a medicinal agent in order to treat cancer,
cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases. Resveratrol supplements are used as it helps in lowering
the blood pressure due to its antioxidant property. Hence, it has numerous benefits in the health.
It works by expanding the blood vessels and reducing the activity of cells which are important
for clotting of blood. It also has weak oestrogen effect. It is also found that it helps in decreasing
pain and swelling. It is a safe drugs if administered in the amounts found in foods. Hence, doses
up to 250mg daily are found to be safe. It slows the blood clotting activity and found to be
useful in hormone- sensitive condition like breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, and
endometriosis. However, it might increase the risk of bleeding during surgery. Hence it is
advised to not use the drug at least two weeks before a surgery. It is however, found to be safe
during pregnancy.
Sources of resveratrol
 Peanuts
 Grapes
 Red wine
 Pistachios
 Blueberry and cranberry (He ,
Yan , 2013)
Benefits of resveratrol
• Helps in lowering of blood pressure
• Possess a positive effect on blood
fats.
• Help in extending lifespan in few
animals.
• Help in protection of brain.
• Elevates insulin sensitivity.
• Provides relieve from joint pain.
• Might help in cancer cells suppression
(Stanevičienė and Mongirdienė ,
2016).
Symptoms where
resveratrol can be used
 High blood pressure.
 Joint pain
 Kidney problems (Gan
et al., 2017)
Diseases which can be cured
• Acne
• Cancer
• Liver disease
• Diabetes
• Heart diseases
• Lung disease like chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease or COPD
Evidence 1
 Resveratrol is a natural polyphenolic phytoalexin which is hence shown
promising effects in the inhibition of proliferation as well as progression stages
of cancer in numerous tumour models. Though, their molecular mechanism as
well as its importance in chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy is yet to be
determined. However, there are many evidences which guides that it have
promising benefits in the treatment of cancer and hence can be applied to the
clinical therapy but requires further study to know its application in
chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
 However, its anticancer properties have been confirmed through in-vitro as
well as in-vivo studies. According to such studies, it is observed the
Resveratrol can inhibit carcinogenesis phases like the initiation, promotion and
progression. It is also believed that it targets the intracellular signaling pathway
like the regulators and apoptosis. It is also Histone deacetylase inhibitors which
is responsible for its antiproliferative action by the activation of cell cycle
arrest. In-vitro study also displays that resveratrol increases the effectiveness of
chemotherapy by inhibiting NF-ΚB protein which is formed by the cancer cells
(Salehi et al., 2018).
Evidence 2
 Resveratrol provides a protective effect in order to improve cardiovascular related problems. This
study is mainly done in rats. It is fund to be beneficial in heart failure as it helps in the improvement
of left ventricle function as well as decrease cardiac hypertrophy.
 The cardio protective benefits of Resveratrol are related to the preconditioning-like action which is
mainly potentiated by its adaptive response. During this condition even small doses of resveratrol can
lead to adaptive stress responses which force the expression of cardio protective genes as well as
proteins like heat shock and antioxidant proteins. The success of Resveratrol therapy in the treatment
of cardiovascular diseases is primarily based on the hermetic action which is similar to any toxin:
exerts the same beneficial affects at lower doses.
 Various researches were done to prove that Resveratrol can be used in the diagnosis of heart failure as
well as cardiovascular diseases (Lieben et al., 2019).
Evidence 3
 Over the years, it is concluded that Resveratrol can be used in pulmonary fibrosis, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary hypertension as well as in numerous other
lung diseases. It is found to be effective in the inhibition of eosinophil activation and
degranulation. Addition to this, it also helps in regulation of differentiation of Type 1
Helper T cells with the help of GATA binding protein 3 pathway. Use of Resveratrol was
mainly demonstrated with the help of the asthma rat model wherein it is found that
Resveratrol helps in inhibiting the release of inflammatory cytokines via HMGB1 pathway.
 Hence, resveratrol is found as an effective agent in the treatment of asthma. According to
researchers oral administration of Resveratrol suppresses ovalbumin-induced airway
inflammation as well as its remodeling. They are also found to inhibit the airway passage
in numerous murine models of asthma.it is found to be less potent than glucocorticoids but
are more used as an inflammatory agent than glucocorticoids. Therefore, all these can
confirm that resveratrol can be used as a therapeutic agent in treatment of asthma or
related allergic conditions (Kim, 2017).
References
Salehi B, Mishra A, Nigam M, Sener B, Kilic M, Sharifi-Rad M, Fokou P, Martins N, Sharifi-Rad J.
Resveratrol: A double-edged sword in health benefits. Biomedicines. 2018 Sep 9;6(3):91
Lieben Louis X, Meikle Z, Chan L, DeGagne G, Cummer R, Meikle S, Krishnan S, Yu L, Netticadan T,
Wigle JT. Divergent Effects of Resveratrol on Rat Cardiac Fibroblasts and Cardiomyocytes. Molecules.
2019 Jan;24(14):2604.
Kim HY. Resveratrol in asthma: a French paradox?. Allergy, asthma & immunology research. 2017 Jan
1;9(1):1-2.
He S, Yan X. From resveratrol to its derivatives: new sources of natural antioxidant. Current medicinal
chemistry. 2013 Mar 1;20(8):1005-17.
Stanevičienė I, Mongirdienė A, Bernatonienė J. Multiplicity of effects and health benefits of resveratrol.
Medicina. 2016 Jun;52(3):148-55.
Gan Y, Tao S, Cao D, Xie H, Zeng Q. Protection of resveratrol on acute kidney injury in septic rats.
Human & experimental toxicology. 2017 Oct;36(10):1015-22.