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New research in the FASEB Journal suggests that a daily intake of resveratrol prevents the ill effects of simulated weightlessness on muscle and bone metabolism Bethesda, MD—As strange as it sounds, a new research study published in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), suggests that the "healthy" ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, may prevent the negative effects that spaceflight and sedentary lifestyles have on people. The report describes experiments in rats that simulated the weightlessness of spaceflight, during which the group fed resveratrol did not develop insulin resistance or a loss of bone mineral density, as did those who were not fed...

US chemists have discovered how to selectively synthesise a wide range of natural polyphenol compounds based on resveratrol, a stilbenoid consisting of three phenols on two aromatic rings linked by a short hydrocarbon chain. Controlled synthesis of these compounds will allow researchers to probe their possible health benefits.Resveratrol and its many derivatives are present in the skin of grapes, for example, and are thought to be responsible for some of the apparent health benefits of red wine. These health benefits may help to explain the 'French paradox' - a low incidence of coronary heart disease in the population, despite a...

The pharmaceutical company Sirtris announced last month that it had halted the last of its clinical trials of resveratrol, the minor ingredient of red wine that some researchers see as a drug that can extend life. The decision signifies an apparent divergence of views on the merits of resveratrol between the current head of the company, which was bought by GlaxoSmithKline in 2008 for $720 million, and its founders. George Vlasuk, Sirtris’s chief executive, said in an interview last week that SRT501, Sirtris’s formulation of resveratrol, “was not an important part of the acquisition of Sirtris by GSK.” Resveratrol has...

While protecting animal hearts from a mortal eventLas Vegas, Nevada (Dec. 30, 2010) – It was Paracelsus, the Renaissance physician (1493-1541 A.D.) who first said "the dose makes the poison." So, you can drink too much wine, or ingest too much resveratrol, but in an unprecedented study, heart researchers report they couldn't find a toxic dose for Longevinex®, a resveratrol-based dietary supplement. Investigators previously reported that six or more glasses of red wine per day actually increase the risk, whereas 3-5 glasses per day optimally reduce risk for cardiac death. This is the well-known J-shaped risk curve (risk goes down,...

Resveratrol — found in red wine, grapes, blueberries, peanuts and other plants — stops out-of-control blood vessel growth in the eye, according to vision researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The discovery has implications for preserving vision in blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in Americans over 50. The formation of new blood vessels, called angiogenesis, also plays a key role in certain cancers and in atherosclerosis. Conducting experiments in mouse retinas, the researchers found that resveratrol can inhibit angiogenesis. Another surprise was the pathway through...

Findings show grape consumption lowered blood pressure, improved heart function and reduced other risk factors for heart disease and metabolic syndrome Ann Arbor, Mich. – Could eating grapes slow what's for many Americans a downhill sequence of high blood pressure and insulin resistance leading to heart disease and type 2 diabetes? Scientists at the University of Michigan Health System are teasing out clues to the effect of grapes in reducing risk factors related to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. The effect is thought to be due to phytochemicals -- naturally occurring antioxidants – that grapes contain. Findings from a new...

Scientists from Scotland and Singapore have unraveled a mystery that has perplexed scientists since red wine was first discovered to have health benefits: how does resveratrol control inflammation? New research published in the August 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, not only explains resveratrol's one-two punch on inflammation, but also show how it - or a derivative -can be used to treat potentially deadly inflammatory disease, such as appendicitis, peritonitis, and systemic sepsis.

In August 2003, when scientists first revealed the life-extending powers of trans-3,4,'5-trihydroxystilbene-- also known as resveratrol -- its earthly form had all the allure of an apple in the garden of Eden. Ruby red, delicately fragrant, shapely in a rounded nest of glass, red wine can deliver as much as 1.5 milligrams of the plant compound resveratrol per four-ounce serving. At concentrations present in a person's blood after two glasses of red wine, resveratrol has been found to suppress the formation of blood clots and boost the efficiency of immune system cells. Much larger doses of resveratrol increase the life...

An ingredient of red wine really is a 'wonderdrug', claim scientists, after research suggested it kills cancer cells and protects the heart and brain from damage. Researchers claim moderate drinking of red wine appears to reduce "all causes of mortality" and protects people from age-related disorders such as dementia, diabetes and high blood pressure. They said that the key ingredient appears to be resveratrol which in small doses acts as an antioxidant protecting organs but in larger quantities kills dangerous cancer cells. "The breadth of benefits is remarkable – cancer prevention, protection of the heart and brain from damage, reducing...

A new insight into the reason for aging has been gained by scientists trying to understand how resveratrol, a minor ingredient of red wine, improves the health and lifespan of laboratory mice. They believe that the integrity of chromosomes is compromised as people age, and that resveratrol works by activating a protein known as sirtuin that restores the chromosomes to health. The finding, published online Wednesday in the journal Cell, is from a group led by David Sinclair of the Harvard Medical School. It is part of a growing effort by biologists to understand the sirtuins and other powerful agents...

Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending human lifespan, researchers say in a new report that is likely to give impetus to the rapidly growing search for longevity drugs. The study is based on dosing mice with resveratrol, an ingredient of some red wines. Some scientists are already taking resveratrol in capsule form, but others believe it is far too early to take the drug, especially using wine as its source, until there is better data on its safety and effectiveness. The report is part of a new wave of interest in drugs that may...

Mounting Evidence Shows Red Wine Antioxidant Kills CancerA natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells. (Credit: iStockphoto) ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2008) — Rochester researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell's core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function. The new study also showed that when the pancreatic cancer cells were doubly assaulted -- pre-treated with the antioxidant, resveratrol, and irradiated -- the combination induced a type of cell death called...

Super-wine might boost lifespan 07 January 2008 From New Scientist Would you drink wine made from genetically engineered grapes if it had extra benefits? Such wine could be on the menu, thanks to a grape variety six times richer than normal in resveratrol, the compound in red wine associated with increased longevity, decreased heart disease and a host of other benefits. Yuejin Wang and colleagues at the Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Yangling, Shaanxi province, China, made the supervine by equipping it with an extra gene from a wild Chinese vine. Vitus pseudoreticulata has an unusual variant of the...

Drugs much more powerful than the resveratrol found in red wine will be tested to treat diabetes. A novel group of drugs that target a gene linked to longevity could provide a way to turn back the clock on the diseases of aging. The compounds are 1,000 times more potent than resveratrol, the molecule thought to underlie the health benefits of red wine, and have shown promise in treating rodent models of obesity and diabetes. Human clinical trials to test the compounds in diabetes are slated to begin early next year, according to Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, based in Cambridge, MA, which...

Wine's beneficial effects on heart health depend more on the traditional vintner's art than the wonder molecule resveratrol. Resveratrol, a molecule found in the skin of red grapes, among other places, has been found to have a host of health effects, most recently prolonging the life spans of obese mice. But the natural wonder drug does not play a role in the beneficial effects of wine drinking, according to research published in the November 28 issue of Nature. "There are some fascinating effects of resveratrol in animal systems," notes plant biochemist Alan Crozier of the University of Glasgow. "To get...

A drug already shown to reverse the effects of obesity in mice and make them live longer has now been shown to increase their endurance as well. Experts say the finding may open up a new field of research on similar drugs that may be relevant to the prevention of diabetes and other diseases. An ordinary laboratory mouse will run one kilometer on a treadmill before collapsing from exhaustion. But mice given resveratrol, a minor component of red wine and other foods, run twice as far. They also have energy-charged muscles and a reduced heart rate, just as trained athletes...

A new class of drugs is looming on the horizon that could, if they live up to their promise, avert heart disease, diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. By suppressing the common killers of age, the drugs, sirtuin activators, could significantly prolong both health and lifespan. But is the promise a mirage or a serious possibility? The drugs are designed to mimic the effects of caloric restriction, a low calorie but healthful diet known to make laboratory mice live longer and more healthily but is too hard for all but the most ascetic of humans to keep to. One such drug,...

Can you have your cake and eat it? Is there a free lunch after all, red wine included? Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging report that a natural substance found in red wine, known as resveratrol, offsets the bad effects of a high-calorie diet in mice and significantly extends their lifespan. Their report, published electronically today in Nature, implies that very large daily doses of resveratrol could offset the unhealthy, high-calorie diet thought to underlie the rising toll of obesity in the United States and elsewhere, should people respond to the drug as mice...

UIC Researchers Show How Cancer-preventing Foods Work Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are unraveling the biochemical mechanism by which functional foods combat cancer."Compounds like sulforaphane in broccoli and resveratrol in wine have been shown to prevent cancer," said Andrew Mesecar, associate professor of pharmaceutical biotechnology in the UIC College of Pharmacy. "They do that by signaling our bodies to ramp up the production of proteins capable of preventing damage to our DNA."We now have a good idea how that signal works."The findings are published in this week's Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of...

May 24, 2005 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Resveratrol, a chemical found in red grapes, blocks replication of the influenza virus in cell culture and in animals, Italian researchers report. "Resveratrol merits further investigation as a potential weapon for combating the growing threat of influenza," Dr. Anna Teresa Palamara of the Institute of Microbiology in Rome and colleagues conclude. In cell culture experiments, resveratrol prevented influenza from replicating. Study: Cigarette Smoke May Harm Fertility Big Guns: When Cops Use Steroids Study: Bypass Better for Clogged Arteries Resveratrol treatment had the greatest effect when administered 3 hours after exposure to...