Antioxidant effect of Resveratrol: Change in MAPK cell signaling pathway during the aging process

•Resveratrol is a polyphenol with potent antioxidant effect.•Elderly individuals have higher baseline oxidative stress.•Resveratrol has better antioxidant effect in middle-aged individuals vs the elderly.•The PKA and Akt/PKB are active antioxidant pathways in both groups.•Resveratrol changing signaling of MAPK pathway during aging. Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of physiological integrity. One common denominator is the increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by inhibition of important antioxidant pathways. Resveratrol is a polyphenol known for its potent antioxidant activity. However, antioxidant pathways activated by them change with aging. The objective of our study was to verify the antioxidant effect of resveratrol in an oxidative stress environment in Human Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) from donors with different ages. Resveratrol (5 μM), a stimulus with H2O2 (0,64 % v/v) in addition to inhibitors of PKA, AkT/PKB and MAPK signaling pathways were used in chemiluminescence assay. An incresed basal production of ROS was observed in the elderly than in the middle-aged group. Resveratrol was able to reduce ROS in both groups, but with greater efficiency in the middle-aged group. By inhibiting PKA, Akt/PKB and MAPK signaling pathways we observed that resveratrol presented an altered performance in the aging process, changing signaling pattern of MAPK pathway.