Red wine could help fight depression

A component found in the skins of red grapes could be used to help treat people with depression by reducing inflammation of the brain, a US study has suggested.

Scientists at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine claim to have discovered a link between depression and inflammation in the brain, suggesting that resveratrol, an anti-inflammatory agent found in red grapes, could reduce inflammation and therefore depressive behaviour.

With depression often caused by “social stress”, such as bullying or the loss of a loved one, researchers used rats to replicate the effects of depression by introducing a larger, more aggressive rat to “bully” other rats. Some rats exposed to the bullies developed both “depressive-like behaviours and inflammation” while the rats that did not develop depressive-like behaviours showed no inflammation.

Repeating the experiment, bullied rats were given a daily dose of resveratrol, the equivalent to the amount found in six glasses of wine, which scientists concluded blocked “increased inflammation in the brain and also prevented the depressive-like behaviors in animals.”

“Our research is very relevant to today’s society because it investigates potential treatments for people with an increased susceptibility to depression and related disorders that arise due to social stress,” said Susan Wood, PhD and assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and leader of the research team.

“We hope our findings will encourage scientists who are running clinical trials to test the effectiveness of natural anti-inflammatory agents on depression, which is currently an understudied area.”

She added: “Certainly, there is a strong case being built now between clinical and preclinical work that inflammation is linked to depressive symptoms, and there is a great need for these findings to be validated in human studies,” she said.

In addition to being naturally present in the skin of red grapes and in red wine, resveratrol is also sold as a supplement. Recently has been increasingly used by skincare companies due to its perceived anti-ageing properties. Last year, db reported that scientists had developed a red wine “wonder pill” harnessing the health boosting effects of resveratrol, while the antioxidant has also been found to improve the immune system, counteract the effects of a high fat diet and prevent cancer growth and the loss of limbs.

The researchers are now expanding upon their rodent experiments to test whether resveratrol can reverse the effects of social stress after they develop.