Red wine 'new fountain of youth'
2008-07-04 09:03
Washington - A compound in red wine
may ward off a variety of medical conditions related to aging,
providing heart benefits, stronger bones and preventing eye
cataracts, researchers said on Thursday.
The study, involving mice fed a diet supplemented with
resveratrol starting in their equivalent of middle age, is the
latest to raise hope that the compound or drugs based on it may
improve the health of people.
Most of mice given resveratrol did not live longer than
other mice but were far more healthy in several important
measures, according to the study published in the journal Cell
Metabolism.
"The good news is we can increase health. I think that's
more important than increasing life span," David Sinclair of
Harvard Medical School, who led the study along with Rafael de
Cabo of the US government's National Institute on Aging, said
in a telephone interview.
Increased health
The mice in the study that were fed a high-calorie diet
supplemented with resveratrol outlived those getting a
high-calorie diet without the compound, the researchers said.
"Resveratrol wiped out the negative effect of the high
fat," de Cabo said in a telephone interview.
Resveratrol, found in abundance in grapes and in red wine,
has drawn a lot of interest from scientists and some companies,
including GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, which this year paid $720m to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc, a company
developing drugs that mimic the effects of resveratrol.
Sirtris scientists were involved in the study. Sinclair
helped found Sirtris and is co-chairperson of its scientific
advisory board.
In the study, some mice were fed a standard diet, some a
high-calorie diet and some got food only every other day.
The researchers then began giving some of the mice
resveratrol in either low or high doses when they were 12
months old, roughly the same as 35 years old in a person.
Health benefits
The mice given resveratrol experienced broad health benefits
compared to mice not given the compound, they said.
The mice given resveratrol tended to have less age-related
or obesity-related cardiovascular functional decline.
Their total cholesterol was reduced, their aortas functioned better
and resveratrol seemed to moderate inflammation in the heart,
the researchers said.
These mice also had better bone health than those not given
the compound as determined by thickness, volume, mineral
content and density, as well as reduced cataract formation in
the eyes and better balance and motor coordination, the
researchers said.
The genes of the mice given resveratrol were active in a
way similar to mice on a very low-calorie diet previously shown
to slow the aging process and extend life span in some
animals.
The study was a follow-up to one published in 2006 showing
resveratrol improved health and longevity of overweight mice.
De Cabo said while the new findings are promising, it would
be premature for people to start taking resveratrol supplements
to improve health, saying a potent compound like this might
interact in uncertain ways with other drugs.
- Reuters