Resveratrol: from grapevines to mammalian biology

Abstract

With the rapid advances made over the last two decades in biomedical research, there has been an unprecedented interest in unraveling the magical properties of some commonly used natural products. Consequently, a wide variety of natural products are under scrutiny for their clinical potential, both in terms of disease prevention and treatment. Among the compounds under investigation is a family of polymers given the name viniferin. These compounds elicit strong anti-fungal properties and are therefore included under the broad class of plant antibiotics known as phytoalexins (1). One remarkable compound in this list is resveratrol (RSV), a major active ingredient of stilbene phytoalexins, first isolated from the roots of the oriental medicinal plant Polygonum Capsidatum (Kojo-kon