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  • 1000-Times Lower Dose Of Resveratrol Than Used In Prior Studies Controls DNA-Protective Mechanisms

    December 23, 2014: by Bill Sardi

    After learning resveratrol was first discovered in 1939 and that there have been over 7000 research reports and reviews published in scientific journals dating back to 1978 involving this red wine molecule, it is difficult to fathom a major discovery involving a critically important gene target of resveratrol has just now been uncovered. But that is the news headline today. [Medical Xpress Dec 22, 2014]

    Resveratrol (rez-vair-ah-trol) has been found to molecularly mimic the amino acid tyrosine and simulate protective biological mechanisms that occur during starvation say researchers at Scripps Institute. Their report is published in the December 22 early online issue of Nature. [Nature Dec 22, 2014]

    While a multitude of research reports decry the alleged poor bioavailability of resveratrol (inability to advance past the liver without binding to detoxification molecules in the liver), Scripps Institute researchers now say doses of resveratrol 1000-times lower than were used in some prior celebrated studies can evoke a protective biological effect.

    They say it is conceivable that moderate consumption of resveratrol as provided in a couple of 5-ounce glasses of resveratrol-rich red wine (providing ~1 milligram per glass) can target and influence a gene target involved in DNA repair.

    This discovery doesn’t necessarily mean resveratrol pills are redundant or excessive, it just means one important gene target of resveratrol is activated at very low-dose concentration.

    This discovery certainly doesn’t give license for wine drinkers to celebrate by overconsumption of the oldest medicine known to man, but it means a glass or two of the bubbly may be more than relaxing.

    Resveratrol leads to reduced activity of an enzyme known as PARP-1 [poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase] that is activated upon DNA damage in the nucleus of living cells. Unbalanced regulation of PARP-1 can result in cell death, an advantage when it comes to abolishing malignant cancer cells. [Cell Cycle April 2006]

    The PARP-1 enzyme is active in the cell nucleus and rests at the biological crossroad between metabolic stress and inflammation associated with aging. Tight control of PARP activity is required to prevent a variety of age-related pathological conditions. PARP-1 is rapidly activated by DNA strand breaks and signals that these lesions are in need of repair. [Journal Biological Chemistry Jan 11, 2008]

    Inhibition of PARP-1 with small molecules such as resveratrol is a synthetic way of inducing lethality by preventing unwanted DNA repair in cancer cells. In fact, PARP is increased in cancer. [Biomolecules 2012]

    While a recent expansive review of published animal and human studies involving resveratrol and heart disease [International Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics Nov 1, 2014] confirms this wonder molecule exerts beneficial heart health effects at lower doses, as low as a half-milligram per kilogram/2.2-lbs of body weight (or 35 milligrams for a 154-lb adult), this recent study suggests even lower doses may be effective at least in a narrow (singular gene) way. ©2014 Bill Sardi, ResveratrolNews.com

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