Red Wine
Part 5

A look at how resveratrol, a component of red wine, may be used to treat HD

Resveratrol and the prevention of neurodegeneration

The brains of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) contain beta-amyloid plaques, which are an accumulation of small fibers called beta-amyloid fibrils. (For more on beta-amyloid plaques, click here.) These plaques are thought to greatly contribute to the neurodegenerative process of AD, just as huntingtin protein aggregates are thought to greatly contribute to the neurodegenerative process of HD, although they may actually just be a consequence of this process. (For a comparison of Alzheimer’s and HD, click here.) Amazingly, resveratrol has been shown to protect against various amyloid-related proteins. When researchers gave beta-amyloids and resveratrol to rats, resveratrol was able to block beta-amyloid toxicity in some nerve cells and even rescue nerve cells to which the toxicity had already spread. This finding is a promising development in the search for treatments for neurodegenerative disorders like HD. Because huntingtin protein aggregates and beta-amyloid fibrils have a similar structure and are created through a similar mechanism, it is conceivable that since resveratrol decreases beta-amyloid fibrils, it may also decrease huntingtin protein aggregates. (However, there are also many examples of substances that decrease beta-amyloid fibrils, but do not decrease huntingtin protein aggregates). Future studies aimed at precisely understanding the cellular mechanisms involved in the neuroprotective effects of resveratrol could open new avenues for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as HD. However, resveratrol will first need to be studied in animals and humans with HD before it can be proven as a truly safe and effective treatment for HD.

Last Modified: 04/12/2007

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