Research Programs Unit, Molecular Neurology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Complutense University, Madrid, 28040, Spain.
Eur J Nutr. 2021 Aug;60(5):2683-2693. doi: 10.1007/s00394-020-02457-0. Epub 2021 Jan 2.
Aging is known to play a critical role in the etiopathogenesis of several diseases. Among them, cardiovascular disorders are especially relevant since they are becoming the first cause of death in western countries. Resveratrol is a polyphenolic compound that has been shown to exert beneficial effects at different levels, including neuronal and cardiovascular protection. Those effects of resveratrol are related, at least in part, to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In the current investigation we were interested in exploring whether the positive effects of resveratrol at cardiac level were taking place even when the supplementation started in already old animals.
Old male rats were supplemented with resveratrol during 10 weeks. Using RT-PCR, we analyzed the effects of resveratrol supplementation on the expression of different genes related to inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis in rat heart.
Resveratrol reverted age-related changes in inflammatory, oxidative and apoptotic markers in the rat heart. Among others, the expression of two major inflammatory markers, INF-γ and TNF-α and two oxidative markers, heme oxygenase-1 and nitric oxide synthase, were increased with aging, and resveratrol supplementation reduced the level of some of these to those observed in the heart of young animals. Moreover, age-related changes in apoptotic markers in rat heart tend to be also reverted by resveratrol treatment.
Our results suggest that resveratrol might exert beneficial effects as an anti-aging compound to revert age-related changes in cardiac function.
衰老被认为在几种疾病的病因学中起着关键作用。其中，心血管疾病尤为相关，因为它们正在成为西方国家的首要死因。白藜芦醇是一种多酚化合物，已被证明在不同层面发挥有益作用，包括神经元和心血管保护。白藜芦醇的这些作用至少部分与其抗氧化和抗炎特性有关。在目前的研究中，我们有兴趣探讨白藜芦醇在心脏水平的积极作用是否即使在已经年老的动物开始补充时也会发生。
老年雄性大鼠在 10 周内补充白藜芦醇。通过 RT-PCR，我们分析了白藜芦醇补充对大鼠心脏中与炎症、氧化应激和细胞凋亡相关的不同基因表达的影响。
白藜芦醇逆转了大鼠心脏中与年龄相关的炎症、氧化和细胞凋亡标志物的变化。其中，两种主要炎症标志物 INF-γ和 TNF-α以及两种氧化标志物血红素加氧酶-1 和一氧化氮合酶的表达随年龄增长而增加，白藜芦醇补充将其中一些标志物的水平降低至年轻动物心脏中的水平。此外，白藜芦醇治疗还可逆转大鼠心脏中与年龄相关的细胞凋亡标志物的变化。
我们的结果表明，白藜芦醇可能作为一种抗衰老化合物发挥有益作用，逆转心脏功能的与年龄相关的变化。
