Resveratrol May Reduce Risks of Blindness

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring compound that is produced in a variety of plants, found in particularly high levels in grape skin, and previous studies suggest that resveratrol may decrease the effects of aging and act as an anti-cancer agent through the function of specific proteins known as sirtuin family proteins. Aslam A. Khan, from Washington University School of Medicine (Missouri, USA), and colleagues have found that resveratrol  inhibits pathogenic new blood vessel growth, or angiogenesis, a process that plays a central role in various cancers, atherosclerosis, and eye disease. The team found that resveratrol inhibited angiogenesis via a novel, sirtuin-independent pathway. Moreover, they could reverse this angiogenesis-blocking effect with specific inhibitors.  Observing that abnormal vascular proliferation in the eye leads to severe visual impairment in several blinding disorders of the eye including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, the team is hopeful that this research will lead to new findings that will reveal novel pathways that directly regulate abnormal vascular proliferation.