Resveratrol Resveratrol Molecular Structure
Updated on 29th June 2008 by Dr Charles Tweed and Alistair Tweed.
Intro
Resveratrol is one of, if not, the most exciting of all the many anti-aging supplements available today. Resveratrol is currently undergoing intense scientific scrutiny and there is a flurry of data being published. Please see below for the main benefits of Resveratrol supplementation and the major studies supporting them.
Resveratrol for Longevity
* Life Extension and Anti-Aging [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]
* Cancer Prevention [12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]
* Cardiovascular [28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37]
* Hormones [38, 39, 40]
* Anti-Inflammatory/Arthritis [41, 42, 43, 44]
* Neurodegenerative Disorders [45, 46, 47, 48, 49]
Please see the Google Scholar links below for dynamic, constantly updating data of recent studies so that you can research Resveratrol's benefits for yourself.
# Google Scholar Aging
# Cancer
# Cardiovascular
# Hormones
# Anti-inflammatory and Arthritis
# Neurodegenerative
The science
Aging and Life-Extension
In the short history of Resveratrol, what has attracted the most attention are the “BIG TWO”. There have been two major studies that have really caught people's imagination: the "Italian fish study" [1] and “David Sinclair’s mouse study” [2]. The fish study compared a group of control fish against three cohorts that were fed increasing doses of Resveratrol. They then measured the median and maximum life-span. They also measured cognitive performance, spontaneous locomotor activity and then assessed the neurofibrillary degeneration of the dead fishes brain. The results showed a 56% and 59% increase in median and maximum life span, respectively. The Resveratrol treated goups also had less neuronal degeneration (a hallmark of the aging brain) and had more spontaneous movements. The decrease in cognitive performance, as measured by avoiding punishments, was also improved. Normally, the ten week old fish did considerably worse than 5 week old fish, but this deterioration was completely absent in the Resveratrol treated fish. All these findings were assessed using internationally recognised testing methods and excellent statistical analysis. The second major study was performed by David Sinclair et al and published in Nature in 2006. What this group did was feed mice a standard diet, a high calorie diet or a high calorie diet plus Resveratrol. They then followed each cohort and measured numerous outcomes. The primary findings were that the mice on a high calorie diet developed pathologies that reduce life-span but these affects were largely prevented by the addition of Resveratrol. The Resveratrol treated mice were as overweight as, and had as high cholesterol and lipid levels as the high calorie group but did not seem to develop all the complications associated with these problems. There was no diabetes, fatty liver, decrease in mobility and it appeared that they would have a normal life expectancy. Looking more closely at the enzymatic pathways showed that changes occurred that are known to promote longevity and greater health. There is considerable debate as to how Resveratrol achieves this. At least some of the positive effects demonstrated are due to the activation of certain genes called sirtuins that seem to reproduce the effects seen in caloric restriction. Other pathways are probably involved as well, such as the induction of heat-shock proteins, and there is considerable activity directed towards finding out what these are. David Sinclair has set up his own biotech company, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, developing analogues of Resveratrol aimed at the treatment and prevention of diabetes. These are the two studies that set out to measure increased lifespan. All the other studies quoted below have measured intermediates: lab based (in vitro effects), [4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11] improvements in laboratory animals, [3] or effects in humans [6, 7] that are expected to result in decreased or ameliorated disease states.
Cancer prevention
Resveratrol is currently one of the most promising agents for preventing cancer. Cancer is a multi-step failure in normal cell control and requires damage to at least 8 of the body’s normal control mechanisms. Resveratrol has been studied in most cancer cell lines and appears to prevent at least several of these steps in every cancer it has been tested against (in a laboratory setting). This holds enormous promise for decreasing the risks of prostate, [12, 17] skin cancers, [13, 24] breast cancer [16, 26] and colon cancer [14, 25, 27] among others. [15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23]
Cardiovascular disease
Resveratrol may well be the active agent that explains the French Paradox. It modifies almost all steps in the initiation of cardiovascular disease. Platelets become less sticky, blood vessels relax, and the damage to tissues in the event of a heart attack or stroke is profoundly ameliorated. Genius! [28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37]
Homones
Resveratrol exerts some of it's above effects through oestrogen receptors. [39, 40] For you blokes, though, you may be very interested to learn there is evidence suggesting that Resveratrol consumption may cause larger erections, raise testosterone levels and create "super sperm". Well, at least it does if you are a rabbit. [38] As to whether it exerts similar effects in humans, well, we will leave that thought with you and, ummm, let you to conduct your own experiments... [And no, we don't wish to use your results for reference material. Thank you.]
Inflammation and arthritis
Laboratory tests confirm that Resveratrol inhibits pro-inflammatory enzymes such as COX-1 and COX-2 [41, 42] and also decreases the inflammation in experimentally induced arthritis in lab animals. [43, 44] Human studies are lacking but given that the current drug options either have significant side effects such as stomach ulcers or heart problems, Resveratrol and its analogues are being actively pursued in further studies.
Neurodegenerative disorders
Much attention is directed to Alpha Lipoic Acid and Acetyl L-carnitine (with good reason) but Resveratrol is also under the microscope. However, Resveratrol looks to be a useful supplement for neurodegenerative conditions as well [45] – particularly Alzheimer’s disease. [46, 47, 48, 49] The plaques that are characteristic of this terrible affliction are prevented and at least in the lab, partially removed by Resveratrol, which is a very exciting finding. We can only hope these findings will be bourne out in human studies.
Safety
No adverse side effects have been noted for Resveratrol. In vitro studies suggest that high doses of Resveratrol may inhibit platelet aggregation. Individuals taking anti-coagulant medication are advised to exercise caution when supplementing [13, 14]. As usual, we do not recommend Resveratrol to women who are either intending to be pregnant, are pregnant or breast-feeding.
aging-management.com Buyer's Guide and Recommendation
When looking for a brand of Resveratrol to buy, we recommend you always check you are getting trans-Resveratrol rather than cis-Resveratrol or a mixture. The overwhelming body of scientific evidence relates to trans-Resveratrol, so without choosing the trans form, there is little evidence to suggest that you will be getting a biologically active product.
Also consider that trans-Resveratrol is not a stable molecule [15] so make sure that it is packaged in a way that is airtight, pH and light resistant. Without the correct packaging, although there may have been the advertised amount of Resveratrol in the product when it was made, you have no real assurance about how much of that will be available to you by the time you get to take the last of it.
Regarding storage, if you are buying in bulk, say three or more month's supply at one time, the best way to store Resveratrol is in the freezer. Assuming that you have done your homework and purchased trans-Resveratrol in air tight and pH resistant packaging, by putting it in the freezer, your trans-Resveratrol is exposed to the absolute minimum of light, heat, oxygen and fluctuations in pH.
At aging-management.com, we feel that here is little point in buying poorly packaged goods that fail to deliver the advertised dose of biologically active ingredients that you paid for. This is why we recommend AOR 's Acta-Resveratrol as it delivers trans-Resveratrol in oxygen, pH, and light-resistant packaging.