Scientists Uncork Anti-Inflammatory Secrets of Red Wine

New research shows progress in analysis of antioxidant resveratrol.

A new research paper printed in The FASEB Journal this month has shed new light on the how red wine can produce positive health benefits to combat disease.

The benefits of red wine to a personâ€™s health are well documented, with different research suggesting a moderate consumption of red wine could help reduce the chance of being affected by heart disease and various cancers, as well as reducing cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Red wine contains a number of antioxidant compounds attributed with healing powers which are excellent for a personâ€™s health.

One such antioxidant found in red wine is resveratrol, a compound which has been linked with cancer prevention, and as a possible vaccine for diabetes and herpes. Scientists in Scotland and Singapore have researched the effect of resveratrol on inflammation as a potential treatment against sepsis, appendicitis and peritonitis.

According to NHS statistics, chronic body inflammation which occurs in sepsis affects approximately 31,000 people in the England and Wales each year.Â One of the scientists involved with the paper, Alirio Melendez from the Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre said: â€œStrong acute inflammatory diseases such as sepsis are very difficult to treat and many die every day due to lack of treatment.â€

With so few effective treatments available for severe sepsis, between 30 and 50 per cent of sufferers will die from the condition. However, todayâ€™s announcement has gone some way to finding more about how resveratrol works and how it prevents inflammation in the body.

The scientists conducting the research took groups of mice an administered an inflammatory agent to simulate the effects of sepsis in humans. The scientists found that mice that had been prescribed resveratrol were protected from inflammation. The compound had a dual protection purpose, preventing two molecules from developing in the body, sphingosine kinase and phospholipase D.

Both molecules are known to trigger inflammation, yet the presence of resveratrol blocked the molecules from developing in the mice, preventing them form harm. Although more research is required, the scientists working on the project are hopeful that resveratrol may be harvested in the future for the development of more effective anti-inflammatory drugs.

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