Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a common aging-related neurodegenerative diseases, is an important inducement of cognitive, memory and mental disorders in the elderly. The major pathological characteristics of AD include amyloid β-protein (Aβ), neurofibrillary tangles, neuroinflammation, impaired autophagy, and mitochondrial dysfunction and decreased synaptic plasticity and function. The pharmacological treatment strategies for AD are focused on acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonists. However, most medications for AD can only alleviate symptoms, not substantially delay the development of AD. With the in-depth studies of natural products, it is found that resveratrol (RSV), which is an activator of silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog-1 (Sirt1), can activate autophagy in nerve cells, improve mitochondrial quality and inhibit neuroinflammation by regulating Sirt1-related signaling pathways, thereby having the potential prevent and treat AD. In this article, the studies on the role and mechanism of action of RSV in the prevention and treatment of AD are summarized, which will provide a reference for follow-up studies on RSV in the targeted prevention and treatments of AD, and the development of new anti-AD agents.

Key words: resveratrol; autophagy; mitochondrial quality control; neuroinflammation; Alzheimer’s disease