Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 7/22/09.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Curcumin May Prevent Clogged Arteries - WebMD, 7/20/09 - "The current study suggests curcumin may thwart the development of atherosclerosis, or clogged arteries, a key risk factor for heart attacks and strokes ... Researchers in France fed 20 mice a diet supplemented with curcumin or a comparison diet not supplemented with curcumin. After 16 weeks, mice fed on the curcumin-based diet had a 26% reduction in fatty deposits in their arteries compared to mice on the comparison diet ... In addition, curcumin appeared to alter the genetic signaling involved in plaque buildup at the molecular level" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Daily Glass of Orange Juice Is Heart Smart - WebMD, 7/20/09 - "An antioxidant in orange juice called hesperidin improves blood vessel function and helps lower a person’s risk of heart disease ... An antioxidant in orange juice called hesperidin improves blood vessel function and helps lower a person’s risk of heart disease" - See hesperidin at Amazon.com or Natural Balance, Great Legs, 60 Capsules at iHerb.

Chemicals Found In Fruit And Vegetables Offer Dementia Hope - Science Daily, 7/19/09 - "a new concept is emerging that suggests flavonoids do not act simply as antioxidants but exert their biological effects through other mechanisms. A small number of recent studies carried out in models of Alzheimer’s disease have found that oral administration of green tea flavonoids or grape flavonoids reduces brain pathology and, in some cases, improves cognition. Dr Williams and colleagues have focused their own cellular studies on a flavonoid called epicatechin, which is abundant in a number of foodstuffs, including cocoa ... epicatechin protects brain cells from damage but through a mechanism unrelated to its antioxidant activity and shown in laboratory tests that it can also reduce some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease pathology" - See Jarrow Formulas, OPCs + 95 at Amazon.com.

Case For Preventive Prostate Cancer Treatment Bolstered - Science Daily, 7/19/09 - "finasteride ... Now new research from Stanford University School of Medicine appears to show that the drug did not cause those more aggressive forms of prostate cancer but simply made them easier to diagnose"

Eating High Levels Of Fructose Impairs Memory In Rats - Science Daily, 7/16/09 - "What we discovered is that the fructose diet doesn't affect their ability to learn ... But they can't seem to remember as well where the platform was when you take it away. They swam more randomly than rats fed a control diet"

Vitamin D, Curcumin May Help Clear Amyloid Plaques Found In Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 7/15/09 - "The team discovered that curcuminoids enhanced the surface binding of amyloid beta to macrophages and that vitamin D strongly stimulated the uptake and absorption of amyloid beta in macrophages in a majority of patients ... Since vitamin D and curcumin work differently with the immune system, we may find that a combination of the two or each used alone may be more effective — depending on the individual patient" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com and vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Two Dietary Oils, Two Sets Of Benefits For Older Women With Diabetes - Science Daily, 7/15/09 - "In the study, 16 weeks of supplementation with safflower oil reduced fat in the trunk area, lowered blood sugar and increased muscle tissue in the women participants ... Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation for the same length of time, on the other hand, reduced total body fat and lowered the women’s body mass index (BMI), a common health measure of weight relative to height" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.

New Evidence That Popular Dietary Supplement May Help Prevent, Treat Cataracts - Science Daily, 7/15/09 - "The scientists exposed tissue cultures of healthy rat lenses to either guanidine — a substance known to form cataracts — or a combination of guanidine and carnosine. The guanidine lenses became completely cloudy, while the guanidine/carnosine lenses developed 50 to 60 percent less cloudiness. Carnosine also restored most of the clarity to clouded lenses. The results demonstrate the potential of using carnosine for preventing and treating cataracts, the scientists say" - See l-carnosine at Amazon.com.

Higher Levels Of A Certain Protein Associated With Lower Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes - Science Daily, 7/15/09 - "Persons with higher levels of adiponectin, a protein that is produced by fat cells and that has anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing properties, have an associated lower risk of type 2 diabetes"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Effects of angiotensin II receptor blockers on diabetic nephropathy - J Hypertens. 2009 Jul;27 Suppl 5:S15-21 - "Key beneficial effects of ARBs and ACE inhibitors throughout the kidney disease continuum are primarily explained by blood pressure lowering effects and partially by their direct blockade of angiotensin II. Recent studies have shown that telmisartan, an ARB with high lipophilicity and the longest half-life compared with other ARBs, provides benefits on markers of cardiovascular risk, that is, microalbuminuria and slowing of early-stage nephropathy"

Clinical evidence from ONTARGET: the value of an angiotensin II receptor blocker and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor - J Hypertens. 2009 Jul;27 Suppl 5:S23-9 - "Telmisartan was better tolerated than ramipril in this high-risk population: notably, the incidence of cough and angioedema was significantly lower with telmisartan alone. Thus, telmisartan provides comparable efficacy to ramipril with less adverse events, which may encourage patient compliance"

Achieving blood pressure goals: should angiotensin II receptor blockers become first-line treatment in hypertension? - J Hypertens. 2009 Jul;27 Suppl 5:S9-14 - "Recently, the ONgoing Telmisartan Alone and in combination with Ramipril Global Endpoint Trial (ONTARGET) study established that telmisartan reduces morbidity and mortality in a broad cross-section of patients at high risk for heart and vascular events, to an extent similar to that of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor ramipril. In addition, ONTARGET demonstrated that telmisartan is somewhat better tolerated than ramipril. Attributes such as effective blood pressure lowering, tolerability and convincing outcomes data mean that ARBs satisfy the requirements for first-line antihypertensive agents" - Note:  I started a web page on reason for telmisartan to be a first line treatment some time ago.  Click here.

Resveratrol Prevents Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension in Rats - Hypertension. 2009 Jul 13 - "Pulmonary hypertension was associated with an upregulation of NAD(P)H oxidase in small pulmonary arteries, which was significantly attenuated by resveratrol treatment. Our studies show that resveratrol exerts anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiproliferative effects in the pulmonary arteries, which may contribute to the prevention of pulmonary hypertension" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Curcumin suppresses expression of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, leading to the inhibition of LDL-induced activation of hepatic stellate cells - Br J Pharmacol. 2009 Jul 7 - "This curcumin, a constituent of turmeric, may be useful in preventing hypercholesterolemia-associated hepatic fibrogenesis" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff :

• Procession for SFC John C. Beale, 39, KIA - 12:36

Supplement Focus (Resveratrol):

News & Research:

• See resveratrol products at Amazon.com
• Red-wine Polyphenol Called Resveratrol Demonstrates Significant Health Benefits - Science Daily, 6/11/09 - "The breadth of benefits is remarkable – cancer prevention, protection of the heart and brain from damage, reducing age-related diseases such as inflammation, reversing diabetes and obesity, and many more ... Resveratrol exhibits therapeutic potential for cancer chemoprevention as well as cardioprotection ... The simplest explanation is that resveratrol turns on the cell's own survival pathways, preventing damage to individual cells ... Further mechanisms help, including removing very reactive oxidants in the body and improving blood supply to cells ... Low doses of resveratrol improve cell survival as a mechanism of cardio- and neuro-protection, while high doses increase cell death"
• Two Glasses Of Wine A Day Helps To Reduce Quantity Of Fat In Liver - Science Daily, 5/12/09 - "Alter four weeks, samples of liver and blood were taken from individuals of the three different groups for their subsequent analysis. It was shown that in the third group - the one treated with resveratrol -, infiltration of liver fat dropped in comparison with group two. After this and a number of other analyses, the researcher concluded that resveratrol reduces the severity of ESNA in models with rats because, in the animals treated with resveratrol, the percentage of the cells of affected liver cells was notably less in non-treated animals"
• Grape Extracts May Be Effective Against Harmful Gut Bacteria - Science Daily, 3/4/09 - "H. pylori is the bacterial agent most commonly associated with peptic ulcers, gastritis, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, and gastric cancer ... The antibacterial effects of extracts from red, white, black and muscadine grapes as well as the pure compounds resveratrol, ellagic acid, and myricetin were tested for anti-H. pylori activity using agar dilution, laser scanning microscopy and cell proliferation. Following 24 hour treatment, results showed that muscadine grape skin extract had the highest anti-H. pylori effect, followed by muscadine grape synergy and seed extract. Additionally, two of the three compounds, resveratrol and ellagic acid, also inhibited H. pylori" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com and resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Slowing Aging: Anti-aging Pathway Enhances Cell Stress Response - Science Daily, 2/19/09 - "The researchers discovered a new molecular relationship critical to keeping cells healthy across a long span of time: a protein called SIRT1, important for caloric restriction and lifespan and activated by resveratrol, regulates heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), keeping it active. HSF1 in turn senses the presence of damaged proteins in the cell and elevates the expression of molecular chaperones to keep a cell's proteins in a folded, functional state. Regulation of this pathway has a direct beneficial effect to cells ... decrease in SIRT1 may help explain why protein misfolding diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and adult-onset diabetes, are diseases of aging"
• Scientists Find a Possible Cause of Aging - NYTimes.com, 11/26/08 - "A new insight into the reason for aging has been gained by scientists trying to understand how resveratrol, a minor ingredient of red wine, improves the health and lifespan of laboratory mice. They believe that the integrity of chromosomes is compromised as people age, and that resveratrol works by activating a protein known as sirtuin that restores the chromosomes to health ... Dr. Sinclair has been taking large daily doses of resveratrol since he and others discovered five years ago that it activated sirtuin. “I’m still taking it and I feel great,” he said, “but it’s too early to say if I’m young for my age.""
• Drug 'tricks body to lose weight' - BBC News, 11/5/08 - "The drug SRT1720 - a chemical cousin of red wine extract resveratrol - targets the protein SIRT1, which is thought to combat ageing ... The French team from the University Louis Pasteur became interested in the SIRT1 protein after earlier studies showing resveratrol countered some effects of a high-calorie diet via SIRT1" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Resveratrol Prevents Fat Accumulation In Livers Of 'Alcoholic' Mice - Science Daily, 10/14/08 - "The accumulation of fat in the liver as a result of chronic alcohol consumption could be prevented by consuming resveratrol, according to a new study with mice. The research found that resveratrol reduced the amount of fat produced in the liver of mice fed alcohol and, at the same time, increased the rate at which fat within the liver is broken down" - [WebMD]
• Red Wine May Lower Lung Cancer Risk - Science Daily, 10/7/08 - "there was on average a two percent lower lung cancer risk associated with each glass of red wine consumed per month ... Red wine is known to contain high levels of antioxidants. There is a compound called resveratrol that is very rich in red wine because it is derived from the grape skin. This compound has shown significant health benefits in preclinical studies" - [WebMD]
• Plant Antioxidant May Protect Against Radiation Exposure - Science Daily, 9/23/08 - "Resveratrol, the natural antioxidant commonly found in red wine and many plants, may offer protection against radiation exposure ... Currently there are no drugs on the market that protect against or counteract radiation exposure"
• Resveratrol May Prevent Breast Cancer - WebMD, 7/7/08 - "when the body's system for processing estrogen gets out of balance, dangerous estrogen metabolites appear. These toxic compounds react with DNA in breast cells and jump-start the growth of tumors ... resveratrol decreases the processing of estrogen into these dangerous compounds. Perhaps more importantly, it also blocks interactions between estrogen metabolites and cellular DNA ... And that's not all. Rogan's team finds that resveratrol increases production of an enzyme that destroys dangerous estrogen metabolites" - [Science Daily] - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Resveratrol, Found In Red Wine, Wards Off Effects Of Age On Heart, Bones, Eyes And Muscle - Science Daily, 7/3/08 - "This study, conducted and supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, is a follow-up to 2006 findings that resveratrol improves health and longevity of overweight, aged mice. The report confirms previous results suggesting the compound, found naturally in foods like grapes and nuts, may mimic, in mice, some of the effects of dietary or calorie restriction, the most effective and reproducible way found to date to alleviate age-associated disease in mammals"
• Fountain of youth? Red wine gives up secrets - MSNBC, 7/3/08 - "Most of mice given resveratrol did not live longer than other mice but were far more healthy in several important measures"
• Can Red Wine Help You Live Longer? - WebMD, 6/6/08
• Red Wine's Resveratrol May Help Battle Obesity - Science Daily, 6/16/08 - "resveratrol inhibited the pre-fat cells from increasing and prevented them from converting into mature fat cells. Also, resveratrol hindered fat storage. Most interesting, according to Fischer-Posovszky, was that resveratrol reduced production of certain cytokines (interleukins 6 and 8), substances that may be linked to the development of obesity-related disorders, such as diabetes and clogged coronary arteries. Also, resveratrol stimulated formation of a protein known to decrease the risk of heart attack. Obesity decreases this substance, called adiponectin" - [WebMD]
• Substance In Red Wine, Resveratrol, Found To Keep Hearts Young - Science Daily, 6/4/08 - "Resveratrol is active in much lower doses than previously thought and mimics a significant fraction of the profile of caloric restriction at the gene expression level ... In animals on a restricted diet, 90 percent of those heart genes experienced altered gene expression profiles, while low doses of resveratrol thwarted age-related change in 92 percent. The new findings, say the study's authors, were associated with prevention of the decline in heart function associated with aging" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Low-dose resveratrol may slow ageing: for mice at least - Nutra USA, 6/4/08 - "animals in the calorie-restriction and low-dose resveratrol groups had altered gene expression profiles in 90 and 92 per cent, respectively, in the heart ... In short, a glass of wine or food or supplements that contain even small doses of resveratrol are likely to represent "a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac ageing,"" - See Jarrow Resveratrol 100 at iHerb.
• Red wine may protect heart from aging’s toll - MSNBC - 6/3/08 - "Resveratrol at low doses can retard some aspects of the aging process, including heart aging, and it may do so by mimicking some of the effects of caloric restriction, which is known to retard aging in several tissues and extend life span"
• Red Wine Could Benefit Patients With Diabetes - Medscape, 5/16/08 - "New research suggests that resveratrol, a chemical commonly found in red wine, has the ability to lower blood-sugar levels, but it might also produce certain unpleasant adverse effects ... The concern is that you could lower glucose in diabetics but at the same time. . . [lower] glucose levels in the brain or in other important tissues" - Does that last part make sense?  Is there anything that selectively lowers blood-sugar, i. e., lowers the blood without the brain?  And isn't it the high blood sugar in the brain that they believe is the reason the Alzheimer's rate is so high in diabetics?  And isn't it the advance glycation end products that are partly responsible for damage to important tissues?  Sounds like a biased article to me.
• Mounting Evidence Shows Red Wine Antioxidant Kills Cancer - Science Daily, 3/25/08 - "Rochester researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell's core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function ... The new study also showed that when the pancreatic cancer cells were doubly assaulted -- pre-treated with the antioxidant, resveratrol, and irradiated -- the combination induced a type of cell death called apoptosis, an important goal of cancer therapy" - [WebMD]
• Grape Skin Compound Fights The Complications Of Diabetes - Science Daily, 3/20/08 - "resveratrol, a compound present naturally in grape skin, can protect against the cellular damage to blood vessels caused by high production of glucose in diabetes"
• Chemical In Red Wine, Fruits And Vegetables Counters Unhealthy Effects Of High-fat Foods - Science Daily, 1/2/08 - "consuming polyphenols (natural compounds in red wine, fruits, and vegetables) simultaneously with high-fat foods may reduce health risks associated with these foods"
• Wine Compound Spurs Diabetes Research - WebMD, 11/29/07 - "In October, Chinese researchers reported that resveratrol curbs insulin resistance in mice. Insulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar. Insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes ... Like resveratrol, the lab-made chemicals activate a gene called SIRT1, making the diabetic mice more sensitive to insulin ... the newly developed chemicals are 1,000 times more potent than resveratrol"
• Report: Two resveratrol supplements mislabeled - USATODAY.com, 11/14/07 - "Life Extension Resveratrol Caps are supposed to contain 20 milligrams of resveratrol per capsule but have about 5 milligrams, the report says. Resvert, distributed by SupplementSpot (formerly known as Young Again Nutrients), had only 58% of its promised 25 milligrams of resveratrol per capsule"
• Resveratrol review - ConsumerLab.com, 11/13/07 - "But ConsumerLab.com found two supplements to provide only 27% and 58% of their listed amounts of resveratrol. A third product boasted several hundred milligrams of a red wine grape complex but actually contained only two milligrams of resveratrol. Across thirteen products, daily doses ranged from just 1 milligram to as much as 1,000 milligrams of resveratrol. Prices ranged several fold" - Note:  I get the paid version and Life Extension® Resveratrol Caps and Resvert™ 100 mg proanthrocyanadins with 25 mg resveratrol were not approved. Jarrow Resveratrol 100™ is what I take and it was approved.
• Red Wine And Grape Juice Help Defend Against Food-borne Diseases, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 10/11/07
• Red Wine Compound May Curb Diabetes - WebMD, 10/2/07 - "Resveratrol curbs insulin resistance in mice ... According to our findings, people might need to drink about three liters of red wine each day to get sufficient resveratrol -- about 15 milligrams -- for its biological effects"
• Red Wine Compound Shown To Prevent Prostate Cancer - Science Daily, 8/31/07 - "n the study resveratrol-fed mice showed an 87 percent reduction in their risk of developing prostate tumors that contained the worst kind of cancer-staging diagnosis ... Other mice in the study, those fed resveratrol but still developed a less-serious form of prostate cancer, were 48 percent more likely to have their tumor growth halted or slowed when compared to mice who did not consume the compound ... A cancer prevention researcher lives for these days when they can make that kind of finding" - See resveratrol products at iHerb.
• Red Wine Protects The Prostate - Science Daily, 5/25/07 - "men who drink an average of four to seven glasses of red wine per week are only 52% as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as those who do not drink red wine ... when white wine was compared with red, red had the most benefit ... But much of the speculation focuses on chemicals—including various flavonoids and resveratrol—missing from other alcoholic beverages"
• Resveratrol Content Varies Among Red Wines - Science Daily, 4/19/07
• Life-extending compound may be great news -- for mice - CNN, 12/21/06 - "In one study, scientists provided mice a high-calorie, high-fat diet and then gave half of the animals resveratrol. At 114 weeks -- old age for mice -- less than a third of the mice taking resveratrol died. More than half of the mice who did not take resveratrol died. In another study, mice who took resveratrol lost weight, increased metabolism and doubled their exercise endurance"
• Resveratrol could counter metabolic diseases, animal study - Nutra USA, 12/15/06
• Review Article: Resveratrol - Consumerlab.com, 11/30/06
• Red Wine Ingredient Increases Endurance, Study Shows - New York Times, 11/16/06 - "Resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training"
• Healthy Life Prolonged in Mice - Medscape, 11/3/06 - "In addition to extending their lives, resveratrol also kept the mice fit and healthy in their old age"
• Wine Ingredient May Nix Fat's Effects - WebMD, 11/1/06 - "A new study shows obese, middle-aged mice fed a fatty diet supplemented with resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, seemed to be spared most of the unhealthy effects of their extra weight and lived longer than those fed the same fat-laden diet without resveratrol"
• One for the Ages: A Prescription That May Extend Life - New York Times, 10/31/06 - "One leading candidate, a newly synthesized form of resveratrol — an antioxidant present in large amounts in red wine — is already being tested in patients. It may eventually be the first of a new class of anti-aging drugs. Extrapolating from recent animal findings, Dr. Richard A. Miller, a pathologist at the University of Michigan, estimated that a pill mimicking the effects of calorie restriction might increase human life span to about 112 healthy years"
• Red Wine vs. Colon Cancer - WebMD, 10/24/06 - "3% of red wine drinkers had such abnormal growths, compared with nearly 9% of white wine drinkers and almost 10% of teetotalers ... they suggest that a compound found in grapes and red wine – the antioxidant resveratrol -- may cut the odds of getting abnormal colon growths that can become cancerous"
• Resveratrol in red wine could cut colorectal cancer risk - Nutra USA, 10/23/06 - "Drinking more than three glasses of red wine a week could cut the risk of colorectal cancer by almost 70 per cent ... the active component in wine that may be behind the apparent benefits is most likely resveratrol"
• Longevity Genes and Caloric restriction - Life Extension Magazine, 7/06 - "Humans seeking to slow aging and reduce degenerative disease risk may consider reducing food intake and ingesting 20-40 mg of resveratrol and 250-850 mg of metformin each day"
• Red Wine Ingredient May Delay Aging - WebMD, 2/10/06 - "Researchers found adding resveratrol, an organic compound found in grapes and particularly in red wine, to the daily diet of short-lived fish prolonged their lifespan and delayed the onset of age-related memory and other problems"
• Natural Compound Prolongs Lifespan And Delays Onset Of Aging-related Traits In A Short-lived Vertebrate - Science Daily, 2/7/06 - "The researchers added resveratrol to daily fish food and found that this treatment increased longevity and also retarded the onset of aging-related decays in memory and muscular performance"
• Compound In Wine Reduces Levels Of Alzheimer's Disease-causing Peptides - Science Daily, 11/4/05 - "resveratrol, a compound found in grapes and red wine, lowers the levels of the amyloid-beta peptides which cause the telltale senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease ... Resveratrol in grapes may never reach the concentrations required to obtain the effect observed in our studies"
• Resveratrol could prevent ‘flu epidemics - Nutra USA, 5/24/05
• Red Wine Lovers, Take Heart: More Evidence Points To The Drink's Cardiac Health Benefits - Science Daily, 12/10/04 - "a well-known antioxidant found in red wine, called resveratrol, may benefit heart tissue by limiting the effects of a condition called cardiac fibrosis"
• Resveratrol linked to longer life - Nutra USA, 7/19/04
• Daily Glass of Red Wine May Cut Risk of Developing Prostate Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/04 - "men who consumed four or more glasses of red wine per week reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 50 percent ... That compound, Stanford and colleagues believe, may be an antioxidant called resveratrol, which is abundant in the skins of red grapes but much less so in the skins of white grapes"
• Does red wine hold the secret to long life? - MSNBC, 7/15/04 - "resveratrol acted on fruit flies and worms in the same way as a method known to extend the life of animals ... We found this chemical that can extend the life span of every organism we give it to"
• Study Identifies Genetics Of Fat Metabolism, Red Wine Link - Science Daily, 7/9/04 - "When cells were exposed to resveratrol, our studies showed a pretty dramatic reduction in the conversion to fat cells and a lesser but still significant increase in the mobilization of existing fat, or the rate at which the cells metabolized stored fat"
• Fruits Offer Powerful Protection From Skin Cancer - Intelihealth, 10/30/03 - "Resveratrol significantly inhibited UVB-mediated increases in skin thickness and edema; epidermal cyclooxygenase (COX-2); ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) enzyme and protein levels; and protein levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), all of which are established markers of tumor promotion. Resveratrol also further stimulated a UVB-mediated increase in p53 protein levels and was found to inhibit UVB exposure-mediated increases in cell cycle promoting signals including the activation of cell division"
• Red Wine Ingredient May Fight COPD - WebMD, 10/27/03 - "resveratrol, a compound found in the skins of red fruits such as grapes, may slow down the inflammatory process involved in the lung disease COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)"
• “Grape Expectations”: Lengthen Lifetime with Red Wine? - Physician's Weekly, 9/15/03 - "Resveratrol, a molecule that exists naturally in grapes and red wine, was shown to extend the life span of yeast cells (polyphenols) by up to 80%. The researchers plan to examine resveratrol's effect in multi-cellular organisms such as worms, fruit flies, and eventually humans"
• Drinking Red Wine May Slow Aging - WebMD, 8/25/03 - "resveratrol mimics calorie restriction in yeast -- activating enzymes that slow aging, increasing the stability of DNA, hence extending lifespan by as much as 70% ... Researchers now hope to eventually test how resveratrol works in other subjects, including humans"

Abstracts:

• Resveratrol Prevents Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension in Rats - Hypertension. 2009 Jul 13 - "Pulmonary hypertension was associated with an upregulation of NAD(P)H oxidase in small pulmonary arteries, which was significantly attenuated by resveratrol treatment. Our studies show that resveratrol exerts anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiproliferative effects in the pulmonary arteries, which may contribute to the prevention of pulmonary hypertension"
• A new insight into resveratrol as an atheroprotective compound: Inhibition of lipid peroxidation and enhancement of cholesterol efflux - Atherosclerosis. 2009 May 22 - "Resveratrol thus appears to be a natural antioxidant that enhances cholesterol efflux. These properties make it a potential natural antioxidant that could be used to prevent and treat CVD"
• Resveratrol Alters Proliferative Responses and Apoptosis in Human Activated B Lymphocytes in Vitro - J Nutr. 2009 Jun 23 - "These data show that human B lymphocyte proliferation and apoptosis are modified by physiological concentrations of resveratrol and suggest that exposure of human B cells to resveratrol may increase survival by upregulating Bcl-2" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Resveratrol Enhances Ultraviolet B-Induced Cell Death through Nuclear Factor-kappa B Pathway in Human Epidermoid Carcinoma A431 Cells - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Apr 24 - "In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the combination of resveratrol and UVB act synergistically against skin cancer cells. Thus, resveratrol is a potential chemotherapeutic agent against skin carcinogenesis"
• Resveratrol attenuates angiotensin II-induced interleukin-6 expression and perivascular fibrosis - Hypertens Res. 2009 Apr 17 - "Resveratrol significantly attenuated Ang II-induced IL-6 mRNA expression and IL-6 protein in the supernatant of VSMC in a dose-dependent manner. Resveratrol suppressed the IL-6 gene promoter activity. Resveratrol inhibited the Ang II-induced cAMP-response element-binding protein and nuclear factor-kappa B activity, which are critical for Ang II-induced IL-6 gene activation. An increase in the serum concentration of IL-6 induced by Ang II infusion was attenuated by an oral administration of resveratrol. Resveratrol also inhibited Ang II-induced hypertension and perivascular fibrosis of the heart. Although hydralazine reduced blood pressure level equal to resveratrol, it did not reduce the Ang II-induced IL-6 production and perivascular fibrosis. These data suggest that the inhibition of Ang II-induced vascular inflammation and high blood pressure by resveratrol may contribute, at least in part, to the anti-atherogenic effects of resveratrol"
• Resveratrol Prevents the Prohypertrophic Effects of Oxidative Stress on LKB1 - Circulation. 2009 Mar 16 - "Our data identify a molecular mechanism in the cardiomyocyte involving the oxidative stress-derived lipid peroxidation byproduct HNE and the LKB1/AMPK signaling pathway that contributes to the development of left ventricular hypertrophy. We also suggest that resveratrol may be a potential therapy for patients at risk for developing pathological cardiac hypertrophy by preventing this prohypertrophic process" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Resveratrol inhibits the expression of SREBP1 in cell model of steatosis via Sirt1-FOXO1 signaling pathway - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Mar 13;380(3):644-9 - "Our results suggest that resveratrol may attenuate fat deposition by inhibiting SREBP1 expression via Sirt1-FOXO1 pathway and thus may have application for the treatment of NAFLD"
• Resveratrol inhibits fatty acid and triacylglycerol synthesis in rat hepatocytes - Eur J Clin Invest. 2009 Mar;39(3):211-8 - "Results here reported show that in isolated hepatocytes from normal rats a resveratrol-induced short-term inhibition of fatty acid and triacylglycerol synthesis occurs. This finding may represent a potential mechanism contributing to the reported hypolipidemic effect of resveratrol"
• Effect of a Low Dose of Dietary Resveratrol on Colon Microbiota, Inflammation and Tissue Damage in a DSS-Induced Colitis Rat Model - J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Feb 19 - "Resveratrol increased lactobacilli and bifidobacteria as well as diminished the increase of enterobacteria upon DSS treatment. Resveratrol significantly protected the colonic mucosa architecture, reduced body weight loss, diminished the induced anemia and reduced systemic inflammation markers, colonic mucosa prostaglandin E(2), cycloxygenase-2, prostaglandin E synthase and nitric oxide levels. In addition, the expression of 2,655 genes in distal colon mucosa related to important pathways was varied. These results reinforce the concept of resveratrol as a dietary beneficial compound in intestinal inflammation at doses possibly attainable with resveratrol-enriched nutraceuticals"
• Resveratrol inhibits the mTOR mitogenic signaling evoked by oxidized LDL in smooth muscle cells - Atherosclerosis. 2008 Nov 24 - "Smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation is a major feature in atherosclerosis, since it contributes to the formation of the fibrous cap, thus to plaque stability, but also to arterial stenosis and post-angioplasty restenosis ... These data indicate that the mTOR pathway is activated by oxLDL via PI3K/PDK1/Akt, and is required for SMC proliferation. Resveratrol blocks specifically this pathway, thereby inhibiting oxLDL-induced SMC proliferation. These data highlight a new property for resveratrol that could contribute to the general anti-atherogenic properties of this polyphenol"
• Resveratrol protects cardiomyocytes from hypoxia-induced apoptosis through the SIRT1-FoxO1 pathway - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Dec 3 - "Loss of cardiomyocytes through apoptosis has been proposed as a cause of ventricular remodeling and heart failure. Ischemia- and hypoxia-induced apoptosis of cardiomyocytes reportedly plays an important role in many cardiac pathologies. We investigated whether resveratrol (Res) has direct cytoprotective effects against ischemia/hypoxia for cardiomyocytes. Exposure of H9c2 embryonic rat heart-derived cells to hypoxia for 24h caused a significant increase in apoptosis, as evaluated by TUNEL and flow cytometry, while treatment with 20muM Res greatly decreased hypoxia-induced apoptosis in these cells. Exposure of the cells to Res (20muM) caused rapid activation of SIRT1, which had a dual effect on FoxO1 function: SIRT1 increased FoxO1's ability to induce cell cycle arrest, but inhibited FoxO1's ability to induce cell death. This effect could be reversed by SIRT1 inhibition. Results of our study indicate that Res inhibits hypoxia-induced apoptosis via the SIRT1-FoxO1 pathway in H9c2 cells. This polyphenol may have potential in preventing cardiovascular disease, especially in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients"
• Resveratrol, at concentrations attainable with moderate wine consumption, stimulates human platelet nitric oxide production - J Nutr. 2008 Sep;138(9):1602-8 - "resveratrol, at concentrations attainable after moderate wine intake, activates platelet eNOS and in this way blunts the proinflammatory pathway linked to p38MAPK, thus inhibiting ROS production and ultimately platelet function. This activity may contribute to the beneficial effects of moderate wine intake on ischemic cardiovascular disease"
• Long-term effects of resveratrol supplementation on suppression of atherogenic lesion formation and cholesterol synthesis in apo E-deficient mice - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Jul 5 - "The concentration of total-cholesterol (total-C) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) in plasma was significantly lower in the resveratrol-supplemented groups compare to the control group over the entire experimental period. The plasma HDL-C concentration was significantly elevated, and the ratio of HDL-C/total-C was significantly higher in the CF and RV groups than in the control group. Plasma paraoxonase (PON) activity was significantly higher in the 0.06% resveratrol group. The hepatic HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) activity was significantly lower in the clofibrate and resveratrol groups than in the control group. Resveratrol supplements attenuated the presence of atherosclerotic lesions and periarterial fat deposition in the apo E(-/-) mice. The presence of intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in atherosclerotic vessels was diminished in the resveratrol-supplemented apo E(-/-) mice. These results provide new insight into the anti-atherogenic and hypocholesterolemic properties of resveratrol in apo E(-/-) mice that were fed a normal diet"
• Resveratrol reduces endothelial progenitor cells senescence through augmentation of telomerase activity by Akt-dependent mechanisms - Br J Pharmacol. 2008 Jun 30 - "Resveratrol significantly increased telomerase activity and Akt phosphorylation ... Resveratrol delayed the onset of EPC senescence and this effect was accompanied by activation of telomerase through the PI3K-Akt signalling pathway. The inhibition of EPCs senescence by resveratrol might protect EPCs against dysfunction induced by pathological factors in vivo and improve EPC functional activities in a way that may be important for cell therapy"
• Resveratrol Induces Apoptosis through ROS-Dependent Mitochondria Pathway in HT-29 Human Colorectal Carcinoma Cells - J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jun 4 - "Results of the present study provide evidence demonstrating the antitumor effect of trans-resveratrol via a ROS-dependent apoptosis pathway in colorectal carcinoma"
• Antioxidant Protection of Resveratrol and Catechin in Saccharomyces cerevisiae - J Agric Food Chem. 2008 May 20 - "In this work, the capacity of resveratrol and catechin to protect the eukaryotic microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae against oxidative stress caused by different agents, hydrogen peroxide, carbon tetrachloride, and cadmium, was evaluated. Under all stress conditions, both polyphenols increased tolerance, although their protection was more evident under peroxide exposure. By using mutant strains deficient in specific antioxidant defense systems (superoxide dismutases, catalase, or glutathione), it was observed that increased H 2O 2 tolerance produced by both polyphenols was associated with catalase, as well as the rise in survival rates caused by resveratrol under CCl 4. The acquisition of tolerance was correlated with a reduction in lipid peroxidation, indicating that the antioxidant property of resveratrol and catechin involves protection against membrane oxidation"
• Dietary resveratrol administration increases MnSOD expression and activity in mouse brain - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 May 15 - "trans-Resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene; RES) ... The increase in MnSOD was not due to a substantial proliferation of mitochondria, as RES treatment induced a 10% increase in mitochondrial abundance (Citrate Synthase activity). The potential neuroprotective properties of MnSOD have been well established, and we demonstrate that a dietary delivery of RES is able to increase the expression and activity of this enzyme in vivo"
• Resveratrol protects against arsenic trioxide-induced cardiotoxicity in vitro and in vivo - Br J Pharmacol. 2008 Mar 10 - "The clinical use of arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)), a potent antineoplastic agent, is limited by its severe cardiotoxic effects ... resveratrol significantly attenuated As(2)O(3)-induced QT prolongation, structural abnormalities and oxidative damage in the heart. In H9c2 cardiomyocytes, resveratrol also decreased apoptosis, production of ROS and intracellular calcium mobilization induced by treatment with As(2)O(3). These observations suggested that resveratrol has the potential to protect against cardiotoxicity in As(2)O(3)-exposed patients"
• Resveratrol attenuates the expression of HMG-CoA reductase mRNA in hamsters - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007 Dec 28 - "The concentrations of serum total cholesterol and triglyceride were significantly lower in the resveratrol-fed group than in the control group. The resveratrol contained diet significantly decreased Apo B, Lp(a), and cholesterol-ester-transport protein (CETP) concentrations, but increased Apo A-I levels and the Apo A-I/Apo B ratio. The contents of cholesterol and triglyceride in hepatic tissue were significantly lower in the resveratrol group than in the control group. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that HMGR mRNA expression was significantly lower in the resveratrol group than in the control group"
• Differential expression of genes induced by resveratrol in human breast cancer cell lines - Nutr Cancer. 2006;56(2):193-203 - "The phytoalexin, trans-resveratrol (RES), is a polyphenolic compound found in plants and fruits that seems to have a wide spectrum of biological activities. It has been found to possess cancer chemopreventive effects by inhibiting diverse cellular events associated with tumor initiation, promotion, and progression. RES is also a phytoestrogen, which binds to and activates estrogen receptors (ERs) that regulate the transcription of estrogen-responsive target genes"
• Resveratrol inhibits TNF-alpha-induced changes of adipokines in 3T3-L1 adipocytes  - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007 Oct 26 - "resveratrol may improve obesity-induced cardiovascular disease, particularly atherosclerosis, by attenuating the TNF-alpha-induced changes of adipokines"
• Hypoxia enhances LPA-induced HIF-1alpha and VEGF expression: Their inhibition by resveratrol - Cancer Lett. 2007 Oct 3 - "Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a bioactive phospholipid that is involved in various cellular events, including tumor invasion and metastasis ... Collectively, these results show that LPA under hypoxic condition enhances cell migration through the sequential induction of HIF-1alpha and VEGF, and that this enhancement is efficiently blocked by resveratrol"
• Resveratrol Inhibits the Activity of Equine Neutrophil Myeloperoxidase by a Direct Interaction with the Enzyme - J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Sep 11 - "Resveratrol is a polyphenolic antioxidant present in beverage and food known for its multiple protective effects. We report the inhibitory effects of resveratrol on equine myeloperoxidase (MPO), a hemic peroxidase present in the granules of the neutrophils involved in the inflammatory response. Resveratrol inhibited the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by stimulated equine neutrophils by acting as a direct scavenger of the ROS released by the cells but did not modify the degranulation of the stimulated neutrophils as the amounts of released MPO were unchanged. Resveratrol strongly inhibited the chlorination, oxidation, and nitration activities of MPO in a dose-dependent manner"
• Resveratrol inhibits expression and binding activity of the monocyte chemotactic protein-1 receptor, CCR2, on THP-1 monocytes - Atherosclerosis. 2007 May 11 - "Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and its receptor, CCR2, play a key role in atherosclerosis ... These inhibitory effects of resveratrol on chemokine receptor binding and expression may contribute, in part, to its cardiovascular protective activity in vivo"
• The cancer preventative agent resveratrol is converted to the anticancer agent piceatannol by the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP1B1 - Br J Cancer 2002 Mar 4;86(5):774-8 - "This observation provides a novel explanation for the cancer preventative properties of resveratrol. It demonstrates that a natural dietary cancer preventative agent can be converted to a compound with known anticancer activity by an enzyme that is found in human tumours"

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