PhD Conferral Mrs. Marlies De Ligt, MSc.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes, nutritional supplement, mitochondrial function, insulin sensitivity, human research studies

"Resveratrol; A booster of mitochondria"

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring substance found in red wine. Animal studies have found positive health effects of resveratrol. This dissertation researched whether similar effects could also be found in human subjects and whether the substance could be used to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes. We can conclude that resveratrol significantly boosts mitochondrial function (the so-called energy factories in our muscles). However, it is unclear whether these improvements in mitochondrial function are enough to improve insulin sensitivity and therefore to determine whether resveratrol can be used to treat diabetes.