Cardioprotective effect of resveratrol in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and myocardial infarction: a pre-clinical meta-analysis in animal studies

This meta-analysis aimed to assess the cardioprotective effect of resveratrol (RES) against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI) and myocardial infarction (MI) in the animal. PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE were searched. Primary outcomes included myocardial infarct size (IS) and cardiac function. Secondary outcomes included cardiac injury enzyme, oxidative stress level, inflammatory cytokine, and apoptosis rate. Subgroup analysis, publication bias, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and dosage-efficacy analysis were used to evaluate the risk of bias. Fifty-seven studies were included involving 1,125 animals. The results showed that RES treatment decreased IS in animal models of MIRI (SMD: -5.44; 95% CI [-6.42 to -4.45]; <i>P</i> < 0.01; I² = 86%) and MI (SMD: -3.41; 95% CI [-4.44 to -2.38]; <i>P</i> < 0.01; I² = 75%). Moreover, RES treatment improved cardiac function, decreased cardiac injury enzymes, down-regulated oxidative stress levels, alleviated inflammatory cytokine levels, and reduced apoptosis rate in animal models of MIRI and MI. This meta-analysis of preclinical animal studies suggested that RES may have potential in alleviating MIRI and MI. However, the translational potential of RES remains uncertain, and additional preclinical studies with standardized protocols, comorbid models, and eventual clinical trials are needed to confirm these results.