Publisher Raises Concerns About Figures in Resveratrol Study

The Editors-in-Chief of the journal Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome have issued an Editorial Expression of Concern to alert readers that concerns were raised regarding figures in an article published in 2014. The original paper, titled “Neuroprotective effect of resveratrol in diabetic cerebral ischemic-reperfused rats through regulation of inflammatory and apoptotic events,” appeared in Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome on 17 August 2014 under volume 6, article number 88. The publication is associated with the citation identifier https://doi.org/10.1186/1758-5996-6-88 and lists authors including Hoda E. Mohamed, Sahar E. El-Swefy, Rehab A. Hasan, and Ahmed A. Hasan. The formal editorial expression of concern was published on 28 September 2026 under volume 18, article number 209, and is made available as an open access article.

The editorial notice details specific questions regarding the imagery published in Figure 2 of the article. According to the Editors-in-Chief, the β-actin lane of Figure 2 appears very similar to the β-actin lanes in Figure 3 of a previously published article. However, the editors highlighted that the lane in Figure 2 of the current article contains an extra blot that was not found in that previous publication. Because of this discrepancy between the two presentations, the editors stated that the original source of the image is unclear.

Additional concerns were raised regarding another portion of Figure 2 as well as another figure within the paper. The editorial notes that the COX-2 lane in Figure 2 appears similar to the Caspase-3 lane of Figure 1D in a previous paper that shares overlapping authorship. Furthermore, the Editors-in-Chief pointed out that there are unusual repeating patterns in the lower right-hand corner of Figure 6A. These identified visual issues across Figure 2 and Figure 6A form the basis of the journal’s formal communication regarding the integrity of the published figures.

The publisher attempted to contact the authors about the identified problems with the figures, but the inquiries received no reply. The editorial explicitly documents that the authors have not responded to any correspondence from the publisher regarding these concerns, adding that none of the authors responded to correspondence from the publisher about this Editorial Expression of Concern. In light of the unresolved issues and the absence of author responses, readers are advised to interpret the data presented in these figures with caution. The open access notice, which has recorded 345 accesses, remains available to notify the research community of the editorial warning.

Subject of Research: Editorial Expression of Concern regarding figures in a 2014 study on resveratrol's neuroprotective effects in rats

Article Title: Editorial Expression of Concern: Neuroprotective effect of resveratrol in diabetic cerebral ischemic-reperfused rats through regulation of inflammatory and apoptotic events

Article References: Mohamed, H. E., El-Swefy, S. E., Hasan, R. A., & Hasan, A. A. (2026). Editorial Expression of Concern: Neuroprotective effect of resveratrol in diabetic cerebral ischemic-reperfused rats through regulation of inflammatory and apoptotic events. Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome, 18(1), Article 209. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13098-026-02318-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s13098-026-02318-6

Keywords: Diabetology, Resveratrol, Image Integrity, Scientific Publishing, Western Blot, Editorial Concern, Rat Model, Ischemia-Reperfusion, Editorial, Expression, Concern, Neuroprotective