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Low-Dose Longevinex® Re-Activates Youthful Mechanisms In Animal Hearts – Confirms Longevity Effects

Las Vegas, NV (Nov. 16, 2010) – University-based researchers report today in the Canadian Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology that a resveratrol-based nutriceutical (Longevinex®) induces longevity effects at low dose in laboratory animals.

Also, as expected, Longevinex® (pronounced long-jev-in-ex) limited damage to the heart after an intentionally-induced heart attack. Longevinex® reduced the size of the experimentally-induced heart attack from 37% to 23% of heart tissue, sufficient for the heart to survive this adverse event. There was markedly less scar tissue (fibrosis) following the heart attack. If the results of this animal study are applicable to humans, many thousands of heart-attack victims would avert a mortal outcome by taking a daily pill to protect their heart.

It’s possible a red wine pill like Longevinex® could replace aspirin since half of the patients who experience a mortal heart seizure were taking aspirin on the day of their demise. Low-dose (81 mg) aspirin isn’t working, and high-dose (325 mg) aspirin produces offsetting side effects.

Proving longevity

While there is little doubt that the red wine molecule resveratrol (rez-vair-ah-trawl) promotes health among adult animals and humans, an elusive question is whether resveratrol pills can actually prolong human life. A secondary question is what dosage produces an optimal effect without toxicity.

Conclusive evidence for a longevity effect can only be provided by decades-long human studies, which are impractical. “To prove their products actually might prolong human life, makers of so-called anti-aging pills must rely upon measures of known markers of aging, such as autophagy,” says Bill Sardi, managing partner for Longevinex®.

Autophagy is an intracellular process exhibited inside youthful cells where enzymes produced by small organs (organelles called lysosomes) literally digest cellular debris (lipofuscin). As cells age they slowly lose their ability to cleanse themselves of garbage, which results in the production of destructive free radicals and gene mutations.

Low-dose advantage

Relatively low-dose resveratrol (100 mg human equivalent dose) in the Longevinex® matrix was shown to restore youthful enzymatic activity to heart cells exposed to a lack of oxygen (a heart attack), evidence that autophagy had been restored to these cells.

Prior studies have shown that mega-dose resveratrol rapidly induces youthful autophagy, within 30 days following an intentionally-induced heart attack, whereas in this study, lower-dose Longevinex® induced autophagy in a delayed fashion, within 90 days.

Dipak K. Das, PhD, MD (honorary), lead researcher at the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Connecticut, suggests this delayed low-dose response may be advantageous since mega-dose resveratrol, which rapidly induces autophagy, has been shown to induce toxicity (cell death) by promotion of oxidation. In this study, Longevinex® inhibited programmed cell death (apoptosis), which is critical for damaged heart muscle cells which are not quickly replaced.

Dr. Das writes (paraphrased):

“Our results clearly demonstrate that the resveratrol formulation in Longevinex® rapidly potentiates cardio-protective effects by converting the death signal, provoked by restriction of oxygen supply to the heart, into a survival signal. Longevinex® activated a coordinated programming by stimulation of autophagy through several longevity genes. One important issue is that resveratrol was present at low dose in Longevinex®, consistent with our previous observations that low-dose resveratrol is cardio-protective at low doses and cardio-toxic at high doses.”

In prior studies, Dr. Das and colleagues demonstrated that 175 mg (human equivalent dose) of resveratrol produces cardio-protection, begins to lose effectiveness at 350 mg, is truly cardio-toxic at 1750 mg, and “kills” the excised rodent heart every time at 3500 mg, which suggests caution over the prolonged use of mega-dose resveratrol in humans.

Mega-dose resveratrol (365 mg and 1565 human equivalent dose) has actually been shown to slightly shorten the life of laboratory animals on a standard calorie diet, which makes this low-dose resveratrol report even more important, says Bill Sardi. “Based upon animal studies, if consumers want the desired life-extending properties of resveratrol pills, relatively low-dosage is the order of the day,” emphasizes Sardi. “The oft-quoted idea that longevity seekers need to ingest the amount of resveratrol provided in 1000-bottles of red wine is false,” he adds.

Longevinex® significantly up-regulated two survival genes, Sirtuin1, located in the cell nucleus, and Sirtuin3, located in the mitochondria (the energy compartments within cells).

A prior proof-of-principle study showed that Longevinex® removes cellular debris (lipofuscin) from the eyes of an aged adult human, which suggests this nutriceutical is capable of reversing biological aging.

In another prior study, “Longevinex® was also shown, in the short-term, to switch 633 genes in the same direction as a calorie restricted diet, which is considered the unequivocal way to double the lifespan of living organisms, making Longevinex® the closest thing to an bona fide anti-aging pill so far,” says Sardi.

The dosage of small molecules provided in Longevinex® (250 mg resveratrol, quercetin ferulic acid, IP6 rice bran) approximates the dosage of solids provided in 3-to-5 glasses of red wine (180-300 mg) which has been demonstrated to produce profound health and longevity.

The full text of the research paper, published in the Canadian Journal Physiology & Pharmacology, Volume 88, pages 1017-25, 2010, can be viewed by clicking here.