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How the world got lost on
the road to an anti-aging pill
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September 4, 2010: by Bill Sardi
So often, books about super-longevity present a scenario that proposes to deliver an anti-aging pill at some distant time in the future that one wonders if it isn’t science fiction. True, in this era of genetic engineering, biologists are on the cusp of delivering technologies that significantly extend the quality and quantity of human life. Certainly the idea of an anti-aging pill is now on the biological drawing board. But the current science appears to be running in circles. Researchers have their pet genes or organs they study. But who is consolidating all the data into a theory of aging that would be practical and economical for the masses?
Anti-aging researchers can describe age-related changes inside living cells, and in the library of 25,000 human genes, but they often fail to present a framework for what causes those changes. The current fascination with genetic switching is a distraction. Genes don’t switch themselves on or off.
We live with the knowledge that our genes are influenced by environmental factors (diet, radiation, temperature) in what is called epigenetics. Fashioning molecular cocktails to favorably influence the genome is the agenda of the day. Whatever age-defying molecular cocktail is invented must also overcome deleterious factors, such as excessive calorie diets. The building of an anti-aging pill is quite a challenge.
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August 19, 2010: by Bill Sardi
Stem cell therapy in cases of heart failure or post-heart attack has been disappointing. Heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) regenerate or are replaced very slowly, so stem cell therapy has been attempted. The hope therapy has been that these stem cells will differentiate into cardiac muscle cells, preventing heart failure. Here, in this ground-breaking study, researchers fed laboratory animals the red wine molecule resveratrol (rez=vair-ah-trawl) two weeks prior to an intentionally-induced heart attack. Then stem cells were injected into the heart, with increased survival of these cells noted and increased pumping action of the heart measured. There was greater survival of resveratrol-treated animals. Read the abstract below. – Bill Sardi for ResveratrolNews.com
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August 15, 2010: by Bill Sardi
A recently recognized biological mechanism that switches genes on and off may play a larger role in aging than previously thought.
That mechanism involves short stands of RNA, about 1/100th the length of a typical gene, called microRNAs, which are only 22 nucleotides in length (nucleotides comprise the rungs on the DNA ladder), which may interfere with normal messenger RNA in the production of protein.
As a brief background to readers, when genes are activated, a process called gene expression, they produce protein. When genes are switched off, called gene silencing, no protein is made. MicroRNAs interfere with this protein-making process and thus switch genes off.
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August 12, 2010: by Bill Sardi
Note: see late-breaking bulletin at bottom of story
The regulatory status of resveratrol as both an investigational drug (SRT501, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Mass.) and widely sold dietary supplement has presented a number of conjectural problems.
What would happen if the drug version of this molecule were nothing better than what is available as a dietary supplement? Furthermore, to further blur the difference between dietary supplement and pharmaceutical drug, the dietary supplement industry today is now working under FDA-prescribed Good Manufacturing Practices which, if complied with, may no longer give pharmaceuticals such a big advantage over dietary supplements in quality.
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: by Bill Sardi
In his new free online e-book, How The World Got Lost On The Road To An Anti-Aging Pill, health investigator Bill Sardi says three things have side-tracked humanity from finding that long sought-after fountain of youth or anti-aging pill that was the pursuit of explorers like Ponce de Leon and modern researchers like Linus Pauling.
Since the prospect of an anti-aging pill was first announced in late 2003, when a Harvard scientist first reported a red-wine molecule caused yeast cells to live far longer in a lab dish, the adoption of such red-wine pills has been puzzlingly slow.
Six years after that announcement, red-wine resveratrol (rez-vair-ah-trawl) pills have been adopted by fewer than 1 million Americans, generating sales of around $30 million (2008 estimate). “Compare that to over $1 billion of sales of Viagra pills in their first year of availability,” says Sardi.
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July 27, 2010: by ResveratrolNews
Experimental Gerontology, 2010
Niki Chondrogianni, , Suzanne Kapetaa, Ioanna Chinou, Katerina Vassilatou, Issidora Papassideri and Efstathios S. Gonos
a National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Biological Research and Biotechnology, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, Athens 11635, Greece
b University of Athens, School of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products, Zografou Campus, Athens 15771, Greece
c Korres S.A. Natural Products, 57th Athens-Lamia National Road, 32011, Inofyta, Greece
d Department of Cell Biology and Biophysics, University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Received 20 January 2010;
revised 31 May 2010;
accepted 1 July 2010.
Available online 7 July 2010.
Homeostasis is a key feature of the cellular lifespan. Its maintenance influences the rate of ageing and it is determined by several factors, including efficient proteolysis. The proteasome is the major cellular proteolytic machinery responsible for the degradation of both normal and damaged proteins. Alterations of proteasome function have been recorded in various biological phenomena including ageing and replicative senescence. Proteasome activities and function are decreased upon replicative senescence, whereas proteasome activation confers enhanced survival against oxidative stress, lifespan extension and maintenance of the young morphology longer in human primary fibroblasts. Several natural compounds possess anti-ageing/anti-oxidant properties. In this study, we have identified quercetin (QUER) and its derivative, namely quercetin caprylate (QU-CAP) as a proteasome activator with anti-oxidant properties that consequently influence cellular lifespan, survival and viability of HFL-1 primary human fibroblasts. Moreover, when these compounds are supplemented to already senescent fibroblasts, a rejuvenating effect is observed. Finally, we show that these compounds promote physiological alterations when applied to cells (i.e. whitening effect). In summary, these data demonstrate the existence of naturally occurring anti-ageing products that can be effectively used through topical application.
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July 25, 2010: by Bill Sardi
Inquiry: Read an article in today’s NYT about Situin and it’s potential in preventing Alzheimer’s. Resveratrol was mentioned as promoting Sirtuin but the article was not clear if it did so past the brain/blood barrier. I would appreciate if you could shed some light on this.
Comment: First, I am obligated to say that at no time in my answer below am I suggesting any resveratrol-based dietary supplement is proven for the cure for a brain disorder like Alzheimer’s disease. It can only be said it is a very promising molecule in regard to aging in the brain.
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July 7, 2010: by Bill Sardi
Clusterin, a protein that appears to regulate both the toxicity and conversion of beta amyloid brain plaque into insoluble forms, hits the news pages this morning as a possible marker for Alzheimer’s disease. Elevated levels of clusterin in blood serum could predict Alzheimer’s disease years before its occurrence. The report is published in the July issue of Archives of Psychiatry.
According to The Alzheimer’s Society, clusterin levels were linked with the occurrence, progression and severity of the disease (shrinkage of the brain and memory impairment).
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June 17, 2010: by Bill Sardi
It has been a long time coming — since 2003 when Konrad Howitz PhD of Biomol and Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School first reported in Nature Magazine that yeast cells lived longer when given resveratrol, a red wine molecule — for human studies to ensue.
Publication of the first small studies involving resveratrol pills in humans appear to be encouraging, but obviously lack conclusiveness. It will take a few decades to convincingly prove a pill can reliably extend human life.
One of the markers of aging is inflammation. In fact, aging has been called “inflammaging.” Researchers at the State University of New York found that 40 milligrams of resveratrol taken daily by young adults for six weeks significantly reduces markers of inflammation (tumor necrosis factor-TNF, C-reactive protein – CRP) as well as measures of oxidation. An abstract of the study can be viewed online here.
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June 11, 2010: by Bill Sardi
Researchers in France have completed the first year of a 5-year study of 38-month old grey mouse lemurs, naturally found on the Island of Madagacar. These lemurs live generally 8-10 years and 5 years of study will likely provide sufficient data on longevity effects of a calorie restricted diet or its proposed molecular mimic, resveratrol.
The dose of resveratrol used in this study is beyond practicality in humans – 200 milligrams per kilogram (2.2-lbs) of body weight per day, or the human equivalent of 14,000 milligrams per day for a 70-kilogram (160-lb) human.
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