Resveratrol, a natural red wine polyphenol, reduces ischemia-reperfusion-induced spinal cord injury

Severe neurologic injury still represents one of the most devastating complications after surgical repair of thoracoabdominal aneurysms. We therefore aimed to investigate the protective effect of resveratrol, a natural polyphenol antioxidant present in grapes and wine, in an experimental model of spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Sixteen rabbits were assigned either to group A (n = 8; receiving resveratrol, treated group) or group B (n = 8; control group, nontreated group) and underwent a 30-minutes period of spinal cord ischemia by clamping the abdominal aorta between the left renal artery and the aortic bifurcation. Fifteen minutes before clamping, rabbits received either intravenous resveratrol (100 microg/kg; group A) or normal saline (group B). Functional assessment with Tarlov score at 8, 16, and 24 hours postoperatively, histopathologic assessment of the spinal cord, measurements of malondialdehyde levels, and myeloperoxidase activity in the spinal cord were performed.

Neurologic impairment (Tavlov score for group A = 4.38 +/- 1.19 and for group B = 0.38 +/- 0.74, p < 0.001), malondialdehyde levels (47.71 +/- 7.81 nmol/g versus 86.56 +/- 11.39 nmol/g, p < 0.001), and myeloperoxidase activity (2.13 +/- 0.72 nm/min versus 3.75 +/- 0.78 nm/min, p = 0.002) were significantly lower in the resveratrol-treated animals. Additionally, pathologically assessed outcomes were better in the resveratrol-treated group. The total number of motor neurons in the gray matter was significantly lower in the nontreated group than in the resveratrol-treated group (14.26 +/- 2.94 versus 29.12 +/- 3.64, p = 0.003).

Prophylactic use of resveratrol reduced neurologic injury and provided clinical improvement by attenuating the inflammatory milieu in the rabbit spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion model.