Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Resveratrol in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled Pilot Study

Background and AimsUlcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory disease in which reducing pro-inflammatory and/or increasing anti-inflammatory molecules is the mainstay of treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementation with resveratrol as an antiinflammatory and antioxidant agent on inflammation and quality of life in patients with active UC.Methods and ResultsIn this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 50 eligible patients with active mild to moderate UC were supplemented with either a 500-mg resveratrol or placebo capsule for 6 weeks. Serum inflammatory markers, activity of NF-κB in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and quality of life were assessed at baseline and at the end of the study. Resveratrol supplementation led to a significant reduction in plasma levels of TNF-α (19.70 ± 12.80 to 17.20 ± 10.09 pg/mL) and hs-CRP (4764.25 ± 2260.48 to 2584.50 ± 1792.80 ng/mL) and activity of NF-κB in PBMCs (0.19 ± 0.05 to 0.10 ± 0.04 OD) (p <0.001), whereas there were no significant changes of these factors in placebo group. Also, the score of inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire -9 (IBDQ-9) increased, whereas the clinical colitis activity index score decreased significantly in the resveratrol group (32.72 ± 7.52 to 47.64 ± 8.59) (p <0.001) and when compared with the placebo group (35.54 ± 9.50 to 41.08 ± 6.59) (p <0.001).ConclusionOur results indicate that 6 weeks supplementation with 500 mg resveratrol can improve quality of life and disease clinical colitis activity at least partially through inflammation reduction in patients with UC. Whether these effects will be continued in longer duration of treatment remains to be determined.