At the School of Life Sciences at Lanzhou University, G.A. Liu and R.L. Zheng conducted research into the ability of polyphenols (groups of chemicals found in plants) to protect healthy cells against diseases like heart disease and cancer at the cellular level.
The Study
Seven polyphenols were studied, among them resveratrol.
DNA damage was induced by using hydrogen peroxide on human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) which is known to cause single strand breakage in DNA. The researchers then observed the ability of the seven polyphenols to protect the cells against the damage the hydrogen peroxide was invoking on the cellular DNA.
Significant Cell Protection
Resveratrol, as well as others of the seven tested polyphenols, had a substantial impact on inhibiting cell damage. The impact was dose-dependent as higher doses were more effective in cell protection.
Some of the polyphenols, however, failed to provide any protection. In fact, only three had any effect in protecting the cells against hydrogen peroxide damage (resveratrol, quercetin, and 7.8-dihydroxy-4-methyl coumarin), but these had a big enough impact to convince the researchers that they had discovered a possible mechanism explaining resveratrol’s outstanding track record in protecting against cancer and heart disease.