Scientists from Scotland and Singapore have unraveled a mystery that has perplexed scientists since red wine was first discovered to have health benefit how does resveratrol control inflammation? Research published in the August 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal [Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology] not only explains resveratrol’s one-two punch on inflammation, but also show how it-or a derivative-can be used to treat potentially deadly inflammatory disease, such as appendicitis, peritonitis, and systemic sepsis.

Alirio Melendez of Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre said “The ultimate goal of our study was to identify a potential novel therapy to help in the treatment of strong acute inflammatory diseases.” The research suggests that resveratrol may be harnessable as a treatment for inflammatory diseases and may also lead to entirely new resveratrol-based drugs that are even more effective.

“The therapeutic potential of red wine has been bottled up for thousands of years,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, “and now that scientists have uncorked its secrets, they find that studies of how resveratrol works can lead to new treatments for life-threatening inflammation.”

Pass the bottle, doctor.