Depression and anxiety may have an opponent in resveratrol – a plant-derived compound in red wine – has been found have a more potent antidepressant effect than most drugs on the market.

Researchers from US’s University of Buffalo (UB) and China’s Xuzhou Medical University (XZMU) experimented on mice to determine depression-/anxiety-like behaviour and ways to lessen it. Ordinarily, the hormone corticosterone regulates the body’s response to stress. An enzyme known as phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4), which is expressed by corticosterone, was discovered to be circulating in excess in the brain in high levels of stress, thus causing problems.Upon administering resveratrol to the mice, the compound kept the rodents’ corticosterone from expressing PDE4. As a result, they appeared to be considerably less depressed and anxious.

UB’s Dr. Ying Xu, who co-authored a paper on the study, said, “Resveratrol may be an effective alternative to drugs for treating patients suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.”

From this, it is hoped that resveratrol could find use in a new class of antidepressants. The current slew of antidepressants work by controlling serotonin or noradrenaline function in the brain, but still about a third of patients taking them end up in full remission.

Resveratrol, commonly found in the skin and seeds of grapes, has also been indicated to help counter obesity and aging.