Comprehensive Library Of Resveratrol News

Researchers are slow to concede that non-Darwinian models of aging may best explain human longevity.

In the Darwinian model an individual might have a genetic mutation inherited from their mother or father or both which is passed on to them. A gene mutation is defined as a substitution, deletion or insertion of an incorrect nucleotide on the DNA ladder. Adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine represent the four nucleotide proteins that comprise the rungs on the DNA ladder. For example, a genetically similar group of short-statured people in Ecuador exhibit a gene mutation in a growth factor gene that confers unusual longevity upon them.

Contrary to static genes, epigenetics is the dynamic protein-making property of genes where genes produce (express) or negatively produce (silence) proteins. Alterations in genes that do not change the sequence of DNA nucleotides describe epigenetics.

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For 8 years now, since a Harvard Professor announced a red wine molecule (resveratrol) prolong the life of yeast cells and later fruit flies, roundworms and finally over-fed laboratory mice, a relatively small number of people have been taking resveratrol pills. But subsequent studies showed laboratory mice fed a standard calorie diet did not live longer when their diet was supplemented with high-dose resveratrol (equivalent to 365 and 1565 mg human equivalent) and a pharmaceutical company ceased further research and development on its resveratrol-based drug. Then the gene target of resveratrol (sirtuin1) was brought into question and some news reports temporarily concluded resveratrol is no fountain of youth.

But suddenly a striking study in humans has brought resveratrol, well, back to life. Researchers in the Netherlands not only report for the first time that low-dose resveratrol mimics a calorie restricted diet in humans, but it significantly lowered blood pressure, favorably altered resting metabolic rate and activated over 450 genes, something no pharmaceutical drug has demonstrated to date. Furthermore, it was shown that the dose employed in the study, 150 milligrams, achieved the same blood concentration as much higher doses in laboratory animals. A growing body of research now points to low-dose resveratrol as being beneficial and mega-doses as being counterproductive.

One of the key aspects of resveratrol is that it is known as a hormetic agent. Hormesis is where a low-dose toxin triggers defenses in the body that produce profound health effects. This is the magic of resveratrol. At high doses resveratrol is no longer a hormetic agent.

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The science of human aging is accelerating at a rapid pace. The monthly calendar causes a number of scientific breakthroughs to be announced all at once as scientific journals are published around the 1^st day of the month. Three stunning developments were announced this first week of November 2011. Summarily they were:

1. Resveratrol (rez-vair-ah-troll), a red wine molecule, provided at a modest oral dose (150 mg), was for the first time shown to mimic the biological effects of a limited-calorie diet and activate over 400 genes in humans.
2. An internally-produced antioxidant called peroxiredoxin has been identified as the key molecule that confers the health benefits and longevity produced by calorie-restricted diets. Resveratrol is revealed herein as an agent that triggers peroxiredoxin activity in humans.
3. Cells that no longer divide and replicate in the human body, called senescent cells, play a role in accelerating the onset of certain aspects of aging such as cataracts, muscle weakness and skin wrinkling. For the first time an experiment shows it is possible to remove senescent cells from laboratory animals and slow the onset of aging. Once again, resveratrol is revealed in this report as a way to inhibit senescence in living human cells.

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Modest Dose Of Red-Wine Molecule Found To Mimic Life-Extending/Enhancing Calorie-Restricted Diets As Well As Imitate The Beneficial Effects Of Endurance Training In Humans

Las Vegas, NV (Nov 1, 2011) – For the first time the red wine molecule resveratrol has busted out of the confines of the animal laboratory and into the human arena where researchers report striking results.

The bottom line: for those individuals who exercise regularly and count calories, add a red wine pill to your daily regimen. For those sedentary Americans who overeat, a resveratrol (rez-vair-ah-troll) pill may actually supplant gym workouts and deprivation diets. That’s the latest news issued by European researchers in an online report published in the journal Cell Metabolism, as reported by ABC News.

The large cloud of scientific doubt over whether resveratrol actually targets a survival gene and serves as molecular mimic of a limited-calorie diet was lifted today as researchers report a modest dose of this red wine molecule mimics a calorie-restricted diet and/or endurance training in humans. Prior studies in laboratory mice were either inconclusive or disappointing.

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