Abstract

Resveratrol is a dietary polyphenol present in nuts and dried fruits. It is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent; these properties led researchers to investigate its protective effects in several animal models of neurological disease, particularly those in which inflammation and oxidative stress may play a role in their pathogenesis. Thus it seemed interesting to study the possible neuro-protective effect of resveratrol and vitamin E in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (IR)-induced hippocampal damage in brains of rats. Rats were divided into four groups (n=10); groups 1 and 2 were given 0.5 ml (1% tween 80, po) while groups 3 and 4 were treated with vitamin E (100 mg/kg, po) and resveratrol (10 mg/kg po), respectively. All treatments were administered for 14 days and on the 15th day of the experiment, animals were anaesthetized with thiopental (50 mg/kg, ip) and IR was induced by occlusion of both carotid arteries for 60 min, followed by reperfusion for another 60 min in all groups except for the sham-operated group. At the end of reperfusion, the rats were sacrificed by decapitation and brains removed, hippocampi isolated and homogenized in ice cold saline for estimation of lactate dehydrogenase activity, oxidative stress markers (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, total nitrate/nitrite and total antioxidant capacity) and inflammatory biomarkers (myeloperoxidase activity, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 contents). Resveratrol and vitamin E protected against oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and inflammation associated with IR injury.

Key words: Vitamin E, resveratrol, ischemia/reperfusion, stroke.