Partial neuroprotection of in vivo excitotoxic brain damage by chronic administration of the red wine antioxidant agent, trans-resveratrol in rats

The antioxidant compound trans-resveratrol, is found in substantial amount in several types of red wine and is considered one of the substances respon sible for the lower incidence of coronary heart diseases among regular cons umers of such wines, an effect also known as the French paradox. It has als o been proposed that resveratrol may have beneficial effects against neurod egenerative diseases. We report here that chronic administration of resvera trol to young-adult rats, significantly protects from the damage caused by systemic injection of the excitotoxin kainic acid, in the olfactory cortex and the hippocampus. The same treatment, however, is not able to give any s ignificant protection in an ex vivo model of simulated ischemia on hippocam pal slices in vitro. This first evidence of a partial neuroprotective actio n of chronic administration of resveratrol in vivo, suggests-that other mod els of neurodegenerative injury, and in particular of excitotoxic brain dam age, should be investigated in order to assess the potentiality for resvera trol to be used as a pharmacological tool for neuroprotection. (C) 2000 Els evier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.