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Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. There is a consensus that Aβ is a pathologic agent and that its toxic effects, which are at present incompletely understood, may occur through several potential mechanisms. Polyphenols are known to have wide-ranging properties with regard to health and for helping to prevent various diseases like neurodegenerative disorders. Thus inhibiting the formation of toxic Aβ assemblies is a reasonable hypothesis to prevent and perhaps treat AD METHODS: Solution NMR and molecular modeling were used to obtain more information about the interaction between the Aβ1-40 and the polyphenol ε-viniferin glucoside (EVG) and particularly the Aβ residues involved in the complex., Results: The study demonstrates the formation of a complex between two EVG molecules and Aβ1-40 in peptide characteristic regions that could be in agreement with the inhibition of aggregation. Indeed, in previous studies, we reported that EVG strongly inhibited in vitro the fibril formation of the full length peptides Aβ1-40 and Aβ1-42, and had a strong protective effect against PC12 cell death induced by these peptides., Conclusion: For the full length peptide Aβ1-40, the binding sites observed could explain the EVG inhibitory effect on fibrillization and thus prevent amyloidogenic neurotoxicity., General Significance: Even though this interaction might be important at the biological level to explain the protective effect of polyphenols in neurodegenerative diseases, caution is required when extrapolating this in vitro model to human physiology., (© 2013.)

The polyphenols, for example stilbenes and flavonoids, are an important family of compounds present in grapes and wines. Several studies have shown that stilbenes are antioxidants and cancer-preventing agents. For the first time, eight natural stilbenes (trans-resveratrol, trans-piceid, cis-piceid, trans-astringin, trans-piceatannol, (+)- trans-ε-viniferin, pallidol, and hopeaphenol), isolated and purified from Vitis vinifera, were simultaneously analysed by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode-array detection. Separation of the stilbenes by UHPLC was optimized with the assistance of 'Quality-by-Design' commercial software. Four different reversed-phase columns packed with 1.5-1.7-μm particles were tested and compared for their retention behaviour and separation efficiency. On the basis of the performance characteristics determined, the VisionHT C18 HL column was selected for the stilbenes studied, because resolution of the critical pair was 1.5 with a peak width of 2-4 s. The optimized method resulted in highly repeatable retention times (RSD 0.03-0.07%), peak areas (RSD 3-6%), and linear ranges were between 0.005 and 50 mg L for most of the compounds. All stilbenes, except trans-astringin, trans-piceatannol, and pallidol were identified and quantified in Burgundy red wines at different concentrations after direct injection of the wines. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Abnormal β-amyloid peptide accumulation and aggregation is considered to be responsible for the formation and cerebral deposition of senile plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Inhibition of the formation of β-amyloid (Aβ) fibrils would be an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of AD. Resveratrol and its derivatives exhibit a broad range of pharmacological properties such as protection against cardiovascular diseases and cancers, as well as promoting antiaging effects. We reported previously that ε-viniferin glucoside (VG), a resveratrol-derived dimer, strongly inhibits Aβ (25-35) fibril formation in vitro. In this study, we investigated the effects of VG on the aggregation of the full-length peptides (Aβ (1-40) and Aβ (1-42)) and on the β-amyloid-induced toxicity in PC12 cells. VG inhibited Aβ cytotoxicity and the non-covalent complex between VG and Aβ was observed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]