Resveratrol: astounding

discoveries reported;

doubles exercise endurance, spares life in mice who over-consume alcohol, protects against brain trauma. In rapid-fire fashion, remarkable scientific studies continue to be unveiled regarding the potential health benefits of resveratrol, known as a red wine molecule.  This bulletin synopsizes some of the most recent reports.

The Wall Street Journal: The Wall Street Journal: "An ingredient in red wine that has shown promise for slowing aging in obese mice could have another benefit: reprogramming muscles to improve exercise endurance. The study, published in the Journal Cell, subjected mice to a test that ran them to exhaustion on a device that looks like a tiny treadmill. The study found that mice taking resveratrol doubled their endurance. The substance, the study says, could hence be viewed as a performance-enhancing drug." [Cell, November 16, 2006 early online edition]

A striking experiment conducted by researchers at the Basque Country University in Spain underscores the life-sparing effect of resveratrol among animals given high amounts of alcohol. The Spanish researchers have acute interest in this because of high rates of alcoholism in their region. About 60% of adolescents report they consume, on average, four alcoholic drinks per day, mostly on weekend days. [Alcohol and Alcoholism38, 243-248, 2003]

The Spanish researchers provided mice with a strong dose of alcohol (~40%) in their drinking water. By the 7th-week of the study, 78% of the mice were dead, but only 22% of the animals given alcohol + resveratrol had succumbed to the toxic effects of alcohol.

For reference, beer is about 4% alcohol, wine 8-14% alcohol, and spirits ~38% alcohol. This brings up the possibility that resveratrol could be added to alcoholic beverages, or taken as a supplement, to reduce the toxic effects of alcohol. This discovery does not give license to drink alcoholic beverages indiscriminately, even with an anti-toxin such as resveratrol. By the end of the study, 100% of the mice given high-dose alcohol had died compared to 50% of the resveratrol-treated. Strong alcohol still induced premature death over time. [BMC Gastroenterology 6: 35, 2006]

Survival of mice over a 14-week period of time. Mortality was 100% at 8 weeks in the strong alcohol intake group and 50% in the alcohol+ resveratrol group.

In a second experiment, rats were subject to brain trauma with half of the animals given high-dose resveratrol. The area of brain damage in resveratrol-treated animals was far less. [Molecular Cell Biochemistry August 19, 2006] This study has application for patients undergoing brain surgery and boxers and football players who undergo head trauma.