Resveratrol and chemoprevention.

Resveratrol is a phytoalexin, highly abundant in skins of red grapes and moderately abundant in peanuts and blueberries. Originally a constituent of oriental medicines, it has lately been rediscovered for a plethora of beneficial properties such as anti-cancer, anti-aging, antiviral, cardiovascular and neuroprotective effects, thereby making it one of the most sought after phytochemicals for supplementing human diet. Studies done in various laboratories have shown its modulatory effects on multitudes of cell signaling and gene expression pathways. Although most of its effects have been observed in cultured cells, quite a few have also been validated in whole animals as well. It is thus necessary to have a comprehensive look at all those effects of resveratrol in an organismal context. The following review summarizes the effects of resveratrol in the context of chemoprevention.