Resveratrol: Review on its discovery, anti-leukemia effects and pharmacokinetics

Resveratrol, found in variety of plants, is a natural stilbene structure polyphenol. It has various pharmacological effects, such as antioxidation, anti-aging, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, antiobesity, anti-diabetes, cardioprotection, neuroprotection. Recently, anti-leukemia activities of resveratrol has been studied extensively via its effects on a variety of biological processes involving cell proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy. Current treatments of leukemia mainly rely on intensive chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, however, these treatments are still with poor survival and high treatment-related mortality. Therefore, it is extremely needed to find relatively non-toxic medicines with minimal side effects but sufficient therapeutic efficacy. Resveratrol is one such potential candidate owing to its reported anti-leukemia effect. In this review, we summarized resveratrol's discovery, sources and isolation methods, administration methods, effects in different types of leukemia, pharmacokinetics and toxicities, aiming to exploit resveratrol as a potential drug candidate for anti-leukemia.