Resveratrol and a low-calorie diet: not instead, but together!
As a rule, cells get rid of damaged and worn-out biomolecules using the mechanism of autophagy, which consists in splitting unnecessary molecules and reusing their components. However, as we age and with certain diseases, the effectiveness of autophagy decreases. The result of this is the accumulation of damaged proteins and lipids in the cells, generating free radicals that damage the cells.
Researchers at the University of Florida have demonstrated that the combination of a low-calorie diet and the antioxidant resveratrol, which is part of red grapes, cocoa beans and other plant products, promotes the restoration of cells from free radical damage due to the activation of autophagy.
As part of earlier work, the authors found that stimulation of autophagy prevents the death of myocardial cells. The aim of their latest study was to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at stimulating autophagy in myocardial cells and the ability of this stimulation to protect heart cells from induced stress.
To achieve this goal, the researchers limited the caloric intake of one group of mice for 6 weeks by 20%, whose age at the beginning of the experiment was 26 weeks, which approximately corresponds to 65 years for humans. Resveratrol was added to the feed of the second group of animals, while the third group was simultaneously kept on a low-calorie diet and received resveratrol.
According to the results of the evaluation of the expression levels of the proteins beclin-1, Atg5 and p62 associated with autophagy, as well as the LC3-II/LC3-I ratio, only a combination of a low-calorie diet and resveratrol increased the activity of autophagy in rat myocardial cells. In addition, only the combined intervention protected the heart cells from oxidative stress caused by the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin. The authors came to this conclusion based on the results of assessing the level of cell apoptosis, serum creatinine kinase concentration and lactate dehydrogenase activity.
They suggest that the combination of resveratrol and a low-calorie diet increases the activity of the mTOR protein, which regulates cell growth, proliferation and survival. However, further research is needed to confirm this assumption, as well as to find out why a combination of approaches is more effective than its components individually.
At the next stage of the work, the researchers plan to analyze the impact of autophagy-stimulating approaches on models of various diseases and further use the results obtained for clinical studies.
Article by Debariya Dutta et al. Calorie restriction combined with resveratrol induces autophagy and protects 26-month-old rat hearts from doxorubicin-induced toxicity is published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of Florida:
Calorie restriction with resveratrol key to kick-starting cell health.
18.07.2014