Ingredient in red wine may be the key to longevity
Nov 2nd, 2009 by Bivio
Only a decade ago, the thought of taking a pill to enhance longevity would have been equivalent for many to the idea of time travel, but now researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine are studying the active component of a timeless drink that may hold such a promise.
That drink is red wine, and the seemingly miraculous compound it contains is called resveratrol, a chemical substance found primarily in red grapes. Scientists began to ponder the health benefits of red wine after observing that French people, who drink wine at higher rates than people of other nations, had relatively lower rates of coronary heart disease despite their saturated fat-rich diet. Scientists also noticed that regular consumers of red wine in general have lower rates of cardiovascular disease and aging disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Previous research has demonstrated decelerated aging and prolonged life in a variety of species, including yeast and mice via resveratrol, which is not yet fully understood. One popular hypothesis is that resveratrol activates a genetic pathway that transcribes a class of proteins called sirtuins, which are important for cellular regulation.
Samuel Klein, professor of medicine and nutritional science at the medical school, hopes to produce the same results in people. Using certain markers of aging for comparative purposes in his study, Klein is giving one group of volunteers a pill form of resveratrol and another group a placebo, and he is placing a third group on a reduced calorie regimen, which has also shown to elongate life span in mice.
Another aspect the researchers will examine is the function of the mitochrondia, since this energy-producing organelle of the cell is known to lose efficiency with age.
Source: studlife.com
