Anti-inflammatory effects of resveratrol in patients with cardiovascular disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: Chronic inflammation is one of the most important factors involved in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVDs). Accumulating evidence has described the effect of resveratrol, a natural polyphenolic compound, on biomarkers of inflammation among patients with CVDs; however, findings are controversial. Here we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effect of resveratrol supplements on TNF-alpha, IL-6, and CRP levels in CVDs patients. Methods: Online research was conducted in the following database: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science databases, and Scopus. This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to investigate the effects of resveratrol supplements on inflammatory biomarkers among patients with CVDs. The meta-analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) V3 software. Results: Six RCTs met the inclusion criteria and were selected for the current meta-analysis. Our results demonstrated that resveratrol significantly decreases serum levels of CRP (MD = -0.63, 95 % CI: -0.1.13, -0.12; p = 0.01), and TNF-alpha (MD = -0.55, 95 % CI: -1.04, -0.06; p = 0.02), however, resveratrol had not significant effect on serum concentration of IL-6 (MD = -0.12, 95 % CI: -0.52, 0.27; p = 0.53), in patients with CVDs. Conclusion: Our results suggest that resveratrol can be used as a potential treatment in patients with CVD by reducing inflammatory conditions.