ABSTRACT
Research studies indicate that nonnutrient dietary compounds may be effective in reducing the risk for developing certain diseases, especially cancer and heart disease. However, one of the greatest challenges today is to eliminate the misinformation and myth in the media regarding the health benefits of certain foods or food supplements. The general public is constantly bombarded with propaganda and half-truths because of a desire to find the “magic pill” that will make them thinner, stronger, healthier, and free of disease. Recommendations are often made based on anecdotal evidence and conclusions are formulated from nonscientific observations. Although much of the early information regarding the significance of such dietary compounds is circumstantial and often contradictory, solid mechanistic data are rapidly accumulating elucidating their interactions with molecular pathways related to development of disease. Increasing stateof-the-art research is being directed toward isolating and identifying the active components in various food compounds and studying their molecular mechanism of action. Stilbenes and, in particular, resveratrol (3, 5, 4′-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) (Fig. 1), its glucoside, piceid, and other analogs, have been proposed as having beneficial health effects including antitumor and cardioprotective properties. Resveratrol is the parent molecule of the viniferin family, known to inhibit fungal infection in certain plants [1, 2]. It is a polyphenolic phytoalexin, an antibiotic compound produced by plants from pcoumaroyl CoA and malonyl CoA in response to environmental stress including injury, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, or attack by pathogens [2-4]. The primary purpose of this review is to explore the current state of knowledge regarding the beneficial health effects reported to be associated with resveratrol and to critically examine the solid mechanistic data available in support of those claims.
