Red wine a cure-all?
2006-11-02 13:12
Washington - Huge amounts of a red wine extract seemed to help obese mice eat a high-fat diet and still live a long and healthy life, suggests a new study that some experts are calling "landmark" research.
The big question is, can it work the same magic in humans?
Scientists say it's far too early to start swilling barrels of red wine. But they are calling the latest research promising and even "spectacular".
The study by the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Ageing shows that heavy doses of the red wine ingredient, resveratrol, lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other fat-related ill effects in obese mice.
Fat-related deaths dropped 31% for obese mice on the supplement, compared to fat mice that got no treatment. The mice that got the wine extract also lived longer than expected, the study showed.
And astoundingly, the organs of the treated fat mice looked normal when they should not have, said study lead author Dr David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School.
Sinclair said other preliminary work still under way shows the wine ingredient has promise in extending the lives of normal-sized mice, too.
For years, red wine has been linked to numerous health benefits. But the new study, published online in the journal Nature on Thursday, shows that mammals given ultra high doses of resveratrol can get the good effects of cutting calories without actually doing it.
"If we're right about this, it would mean you could have the benefit of restricting calories without having to feel hungry," Sinclair said.
Even though he called the work "tantalising," Dr Howard Eisenson, director of the Duke University Diet and Fitness Centre urged people not to get too excited.
'Fat, happy, healthy and vigorous'
"All of us who practice medicine have learned that we can't leap from studies in the lab - particularly in lab animals - to what will happen in humans," Eisenson said.
The 55 resveratrol-treated obese mice were on a high-calorie diet. Not only were they about as healthy as normal mice, they were also as agile and active on exercise equipment as their lean cousins.
The only major body measurement that didn't improve - aside from weight - was cholesterol, and that didn't seem to matter in the overall health of the mice, Sinclair said.
The study is so promising that the ageing institute this week is strongly considering a repeat of the same experiment with rhesus monkeys, a closer match to humans, said institute director Dr Richard Hodes.
Hodes cautions that it's too early for people to start taking non-regulated resveratrol supplements because safety issues haven't been adequately addressed.
Sinclair's results are so promising that he rushed the study into the science journal while the obese mice are still alive, not waiting several more weeks or months until they die. That raises some issues, including specific figures about mortality, but is understandable, said outside experts.
Some scientists worry that the research may encourage people to forget about their diets and wait for a red wine cure-all that may never come.
"It's not an excuse to overeat," Sinclair said. But he added that for mice at least, this shows you can be "fat, happy, healthy and vigorous."
On the net:
www.nature.com
- AP