News Desk |
From protecting our neurons against aging to potentially preventing cancer, a significant number of studies have recently hailed the health benefits of resveratrol. Also, a lot of previous research has focused on the benefits of resveratrol for heart health.
Clinical studies in rats and mice have demonstrated protective effects against stroke, heart failure, and hypertension, among other heart conditions. Although some researchers believe that the benefits of resveratrol come from its antioxidant properties, the mechanisms behind its cardioprotective effects remain unclear. New research gets closer to understanding these mechanisms, and the findings are an intriguing paradox.
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A team of scientists from King’s College London (KCL), in the United Kingdom, added resveratrol to the diet of mice with high blood pressure. Joseph Burgoyne, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in cardiovascular sciences at KCL, is the lead author of the study, which appears in the journal ‘Circulation’.
What do the findings mean for humans?
Importantly, the researchers were able to replicate the findings in human cell lines. Specifically, they applied resveratrol to cells taken from human blood vessel walls and noticed the same chemical reaction.
However, the scientists caution against the interpretation that people should consume a lot of resveratrol-containing products in order to reap the same benefits that this study showcased in mice.
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“Our work could lay the foundations for chemically altering resveratrol to improve its delivery to the body,” the study’s lead author explains, “or designing new, more potent drugs which use the same pathway. In the future, we could have a whole new class of blood pressure drugs.”