Resveratrol treatment does not reduce arterial inflammation in males at risk of type 2 diabetes: a randomized crossover trial.

Purpose: Resveratrol has shown promising anti-inflammatory effects in in vitro and animal studies. We aimed to investigate this effect on arterial inflammation in vivo.

Methods: This was an additional analysis of a double-blind randomized crossover trial which included eight male subjects with decreased insulin sensitivity who underwent an ¹⁸F-fluoroxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) PET/CT after 34 days of placebo and resveratrol treatment (150 mg/day). ¹⁸F-FDG uptake was analyzed in the carotid arteries and the aorta, adipose tissue regions, spleen, and bone marrow as measures for arterial and systemic inflammation. Maximum target-to-background ratios (TBR_max) were compared between resveratrol and placebo treatment with the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Median values are shown with their interquartile range.

Results: Arterial ¹⁸F-FDG uptake was non-significantly higher after resveratrol treatment (TBR_max all vessels 1.7 (1.6-1.7)) in comparison to placebo treatment (1.5 (1.4-1.6); p=0.050). Only in visceral adipose tissue, the increase in ¹⁸F-FDG uptake after resveratrol reached statistical significance (p=0.024). Furthermore, CRP-levels were not significantly affected by resveratrol treatment (p=0.091).

Conclusions: Resveratrol failed to attenuate arterial or systemic inflammation as measured with ¹⁸F-FDG PET in subjects at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, validation of these findings in larger human studies is needed.