Resveratrol may boost eye health: Study

The vascular benefits of resveratrol – a compound found in red wine, blueberries and peanuts – may extend to reducing the risk of blindness for diabetics and seniors, says a new study.

According to findings published in the American Journal of Pathology, resveratrol could reverse the abnormal formation of blood vessels in the retina of mice subjected to a laser treatment.

Scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified a pathway called the eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase (eEF2) regulated pathway, which they proposed as being responsible for the compound's protective effects.

"We have identified a novel pathway,” said lead researcher, Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD. "And we believe the pathway may be involved both in age-related eye disease and in other diseases where angiogenesis plays a destructive role."

Apte and his co-workers note that this was a surprise the anti-ageing potential of resveratrol was proposed to occur via a different pathway.

“A great deal of research has identified resveratrol as an anti-aging compound, and given our interest in age-related eye disease, we wanted to find out whether there was a link,” said Apte. “There were reports on resveratrol's effects on blood vessels in other parts of the body, but there was no evidence that it had any effects within the eye,” he added.

The promise of long life

Resveratrol, a powerful polyphenol and anti-fungal chemical, is often touted as the bioactive compound in grapes and red wine, and has particularly been associated with the so-called 'French Paradox'. The phrase, coined in 1992 by Dr Serge Renaud from Bordeaux University, describes the low incidence of heart disease and obesity among the French, despite their relatively high-fat diet and levels of wine consumption.

Interest in the compound exploded in 2003 when research from David Sinclair and his team from Harvard reported that resveratrol was able to increase the lifespan of yeast cells. The research, published in Nature, was greeted with international media fanfare and ignited flames of hope for an anti-ageing pill.

According to Sinclair’s findings, resveratrol could activate a gene called sirtuin1 (Sirt1 – the yeast equivalent was Sir2), which is also activated during calorie restriction in various species, including monkeys.


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