Comprehensive Library Of Resveratrol News

GlaxoSmithKline (Sirtris Pharmaceuticals) may have abandoned further research on its SRT501 resveratrol pill, but that hasn’t dampened ongoing research of this red wine molecule.

Researchers in Australia now say there are a “plethora of laboratory investigations which provide evidence for the multi‐faceted properties of resveratrol and suggest that resveratrol may target ageing and obesity-related chronic disease by regulating inflammation and oxidative stress.”

Researchers at the University of Queensland (Australia) say the first in vitro (lab dish) and in vivo (living organisms) scientific evidence has certainly confirmed a role for nutra-pharmacology in health.

“The data provides justification for the daily consumption of resveratrol and other plant-based chemicals containing food‐ products as part of disease prevention, which may ultimately be the reason why these bioactive compounds do exist in nature,” the researchers said.

They go on to say “nutraceutical resveratrol is easily available commercially, and uncontrolled self‐prescribing is encouraged by claims that resveratrol mimics a calorie-restricted diet and has anti-aging activity.”

This is the first bold recommendation for widespread public use of resveratrol.  While stating that resveratrol is “is still in the dawn of clinical investigation,” these researchers are essentially steering the public to navigate around modern medicine which has yet to embrace resveratrol.

Take in the broad applications for resveratrol and its wide influence over the human genome (library of genes), as pictured in the following two graphics.

Actually, research showing resveratrol is the most profound weapon against cancer dates back 13 years.  How long will it take to translate basic research into applied science?  Answer: it won’t happen until resveratrol is molecularly reconfigured into a patentable drug.  (Actually, this is already underway.  See prior report on combretastatin, a resveratrol-like molecule derived from bark of the African bush willow tree, made by Oxigene).

The Australian researchers indicate the dietary intake of resveratrol can reach 6-to-8 milligrams per day with consumption of red wine, grapes, berries, peanuts and other foods.  Dark aged red wine is the most concentrated source, providing 100-1000 times more resveratrol than plant foods.  The best red wine will provide ~1 milligram of resveratrol per 5-ounce glass.  Unfiltered red wine, just now being offered by some vintners, may provide even more.

Nutriceuticals that provide resveratrol are offered in a very broad dosage range, from 20 to 1000 milligrams, making it difficult to ascertain the amount needed to promote health versus treat disease.  Excessive dosage (more than 350 mg) appears to be counterproductive.

The Australian researchers say it is “too soon to comment on the most suitable dose and source, or the effects and safety of chronic intake, until further clinical data is available.”

But one brand of resveratrol, Longevinex®, has undergone extensive animal study showing it produces health benefits at relatively low dose (~100 mg resveratrol human equivalent dosage) and, unlike plain resveratrol, does not exhibit toxicity even at high dose (~2800 mg).  In animal studies, Longevinex® has been shown to exert 9-fold greater genomic response than plain resveratrol and doubled blood flow in the first blood vessel outside the heart (aorta) following a chemically-induced heart attack compared to resveratrol.  A human study in Japan also showed Longevinex® abolishes the first sign of arterial aging (Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan, in publication).  – © 2011 Bill Sardi, ResveratrolNews.com

For further information about Longevinex click here

---

British Journal Clinical Pharmacology  2011 Mar 16. [Epub ahead of print]

Resveratrol – pills to replace a healthy diet?

Chachay VS, Kirkpatrick CM, Hickman IJ, Ferguson M, Prins JB, Martin JH

The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland*; School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland*; Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Monash University**, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, The Princess Alexandra Hospital*; Mater Medical Research Institute*; School of Medicine Southside, The University of Queensland*.

Abstract

Nutrapharmacology, or the use of bioactive food compounds at pharmacological dose is emerging as a therapeutic approach to target the complex metabolic dysregulations in ageing and obesity-related chronic disease. Resveratrol, a polyphenol found in the skin of grapes, and other edible plants and related food products, has received extensive attention through the link with the French paradox, and later with its chemopreventive activity demonstrated in-vitro and in animal cancer models. A plethora of laboratory investigations has provided evidence for the multi-faceted properties of resveratrol and suggests that resveratrol may target ageing and obesity related chronic disease by regulating inflammation and oxidative stress. A number of obstacles stand in the path to clinical usage however, not least the lack of clinical evidence to date, and the myriad of doses and formulations available. Further, data on the effects of resveratrol consumption in a capsule versus food form is conflicting, and there are uncertain effects of long-term dosing. The review will summarize the human pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic published data, and the topics for research if resveratrol is to become a multi-target therapeutic agent addressing chronic disease.

© 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.
PMID: 21410504