Resveratrol in prostate diseases – a short review

INTRODUCTION: Resveratrol is a plant–derived polyphenol suggested to have many beneficial health effects, including antioxidant, anti–inflammatory, anti–proliferative, proapoptotic, and anti–angiogenic. It is even specu- lated that uptake of resveratrol by red wine consumption could be behind the so–called French paradox the lower incidence of cardiovascular diseases in the French population. These properties, together with good absorption and tolerance, would make it an attractive agent in prostatic diseases, especially in cancer prevention and treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: MEDLINE search (keywords “prostate res- veratrol”) resulted in 39 research papers published since 2007. It has been shown that resveratol down–regulate androgen receptor expression, inhibit proliferation, and promote apop- tosis in prostate cancer cell lines and enhance their sensitivity to ionizing radiation. Several studies on animal prostate cancer development also suggest that resveratrol is able do delay or prevent carcino- genesis in prostate. Despite these promising results, there is no proof of any therapeutic properties of resveratrol in prostate diseases from human clinical trials nor any information about ongoing trials in this field. CONCLUSIONS: Resveratrol is produced and sold as a nutritional supplement, there is not enough clinical evidence to justify a recommendation for the administration of resveratrol in humans at present.