Resveratrol – the long-awaited elixir of youth or a dream?
One for the agesKay Lazar, Boston Globe, March 23, 2009
Translation: Gerovital.Ru
The temptation of eternal youth has given rise to a multibillion-dollar global market filled with drugs and pills that, if we believe the assurances of manufacturers, can prolong our lives. But among all this diversity there is a drug that deserves special attention – resveratrol.
Advertising resveratrol – It reverses the course of the biological clock! A miracle molecule! – you can see it everywhere, from the Internet to the local health food store. The drug is even included in anti-wrinkle creams.
Ever since Harvard University molecular geneticist David Sinclair announced in 2003 that resveratrol significantly prolongs the life of yeast and fruit flies, the desire to prove it to people has not left scientists alone for a minute.
6 years have passed, and researchers still have to figure out whether resveratrol can increase the lifespan of creatures larger than mice. But this circumstance did not diminish the zeal of some manufacturers to claim that they managed to unravel the secret of a long life and put it in a capsule.
Resveratrol, a compound found in grape skins and red wine, is one of the most sought–after anti-aging products in the vitamin store on Harvard Square.
"We have about 7 different brands," says sales manager Koudjo Ala. Most often, he is asked by middle-aged people who "have studied the available information and know exactly what they want."
In a natural health food store in Hanover, drugs containing resveratrol are "100 times more popular" than long-known products with red wine extract, says manager Tony Latessa.
"It is recommended by many wellness consultants and homeopathic doctors," he says. "I know of a case where a doctor recommended it to his patient who had heart problems."
After his tantalizing report on the effects of resveratrol on yeast and fruit flies, Sinclair founded a private company, Sirtris, headquartered in Cambridge, which conducts research on resveratrol-based drugs designed to activate sirtuin genes. Sirtuins trigger enzymes that promote the restoration and subsequent protection of cells. Sinclair's previous research has shown that sirtuins can be activated with resveratrol.
Scientists have long known that rats whose diet was severely restricted lived longer and had fewer age-related diseases such as heart disease and cancer. It seems that calorie restriction stimulates the activity of sirtuins. Therefore, the researchers focused all their attention on finding substances, such as resveratrol, that could have the same effect on humans – without the need to exhaust themselves with hunger.
However, even Sinclair – who, through a spokesperson, politely declined to be interviewed for this article- recently published a report on the real state of affairs with the advanced study of resveratrol. In an interview with CBS (60 Minutes program) Sinclair noted that, in his opinion, "it will take at least another 5 years until a pill appears, with which people's lives will not only be longer, but also healthier."
"And we will witness it," he says. "I'm pretty sure of that."
Other scientists who are not involved in the financial orbit of resveratrol are quite skeptical, believing that an anti-aging drug is unlikely to appear soon. According to them, it is easier to prove that the drug treats a certain disease, such as diabetes, than that it slows down the aging process.
"It will take another 30 years until we find out whether resveratrol really has an effect on the aging process, that is, whether it changes the rate of aging of people," says Steve Austad, professor of cellular and structural biology at the University of Texas and deputy director of the scientific part of the American Federation for Aging Research (American Federation for Aging Research).
But, according to Ostad, the ability of resveratrol to treat certain diseases can be confirmed in a shorter time. Sinclair's company, for example, recently reported that resveratrol lowered the blood sugar levels of diabetics who took a substance related to resveratrol during clinical trials.
Most drugs contain from 10 mg to 200 mg of resveratrol (in one tablet or capsule), which is 5-100 times higher than its content in a glass of red wine, and the instructions for its use vary to the same extent. Prices are also very different, from $10 to almost $40 per package.
However, you cannot be completely sure what you are getting by buying products containing resveratrol. Unlike medications, dietary supplements do not undergo rigorous testing for safety and efficacy. This also means that there can be no certainty that the bottle actually contains what is indicated on the label. The 1994 law only requires that supplements do not claim to be able to treat, much less cure, specific diseases.
Despite the lack of consensus on resveratrol, the demand for it has generated interest in epigenetics, which studies a wide range of substances, including dietary supplements that increase gene expression and possibly influence the course of diseases and the aging process.
"The phenomenon of resveratrol has simultaneously aroused interest in other substances, such as curcumin," says Douglas MacKay, a certified naturopathic physician from New Hampshire and vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association of food supplement manufacturers.
Curcumin is the main component of turmeric, a bright yellow spice used in curry. In the laboratory and during experiments on animals, the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of curcumin were confirmed. Preliminary human studies have shown the possibility of using curcumin to normalize cholesterol levels and against heartburn, but more research is needed.
McKay, 36, an enthusiast who enjoys surfing and cycling, takes curcumin. He does not use resveratrol, because, according to him, researchers have not yet confirmed the ability of this drug to slow down the aging process in humans.
But even some skeptics are convinced that science will sooner or later learn to turn back the biological clock.
Ostad, a biologist from the University of Texas, in 2001 made a $300 bet with demographer Jay Olshansky from the University of Illinois that by 2150 at least one of the living people will live to 150 years. Olshansky bet against it. Each of the parties invested $150 in a blind trust fund with the condition that the interest from the capital will go to the descendants of the winner.
"Now this future 150-year-old centenarian should be at least 9 years old," says Ostad.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru30.03.2009