Red wine can help increase the density of the spinal bone in people with metabolic syndrome, helping in the fight against conditions such as osteoporosis, new research shows.

Resveratrol, a naturally occurring compound found in grapes and red wine, is found to have anti-inflammatory characteristics. In an experiment with mice, the compound protected the animals from bone loss.

Resveratrol is included in a group of plant-based compounds called polyphenols. Aside from red wine and grapes, the compound can also be found in nuts.

Danish scientists have researched the effects of resveratrol on metabolic syndrome, a condition connected with low-grade inflammation that causes bone loss.

Metabolic syndrome is a group of factors that increase the risk of people acquiring heart disease and diabetes and suffering from a stroke.

The factors may include obesity in the abdomen, increased levels of triglycerides, which are the fats found in blood, high fasting blood sugar, higher blood pressure, and reduced levels of good cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein.

Marie Juul Ornstrup, one of the researchers from the Aarhus University Hospital, says the research is the very first one to show the potential of resveratrol as treatment for osteoporosis. The findings indicate that resveratrol could stimulate the cells that form bones.

The study proceeded with an experiment involving 66 middle-aged men that were suffering from metabolic syndrome. Over a four-month period, the subjects took either a 500mg resveratrol dose, a 75mg resveratrol dose, or a placebo, two times a day.

The results revealed that the subjects that took the 500mg dose had an increase of 2.6 percent in bone density, compared to the subjects that were taking the placebo.

The subjects taking the higher dose of resveratrol also showed an increase of 16 percent in the amount of bone alkaline phosphatase, which marks the formation of bones, in their bodies.

Ornstrup said that the results are encouraging, but additional research should assess how resveratrol protects humans from developing the risk for osteoporosis in the long term.

The study Resveratrol Increases Bone Mineral Density and Bone Alkaline Phosphatase in Obese Men: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial is published online in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Other authors include Thomas Nordstrøm Kjær, Torben Harsløf, Steen Bønløkke Pedersen and Bente Lomholt Langdahl, all of whom are from Aarhus University Hospital.