Resveratrol role in Staphylococcus aureus-induced corneal inflammation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of trans-resveratrol on Staphylococcus aureus-induced keratitis. Rabbit corneas (intact corneas, abraded corneas and abraded corneas exposed to inactivated S. aureus strains) were placed in an ex vivo culture model. The abraded corneas exposed to S. aureus were divided into two one hour-treatment sub-groups: corneas treated with trans-resveratrol and corneas treated with vehicle. The tissues were examined by immunohistochemical analyses and quantitative real-time RT-PCR to determineTLR2 mRNA e IL-8 mRNA. The results demonstrated that resveratrol treatment effectively down-regulated cell surface TLR2 on cells stimulated by S. aureus and reduced the expression of IL-8 gene. n addition, the corneal culture model tested, simple and reproducible, could be an alternative to in vivo animal testing to permit the development of novel specific therapies.