Resveratrol may Prevent Eye Disease and Macular Degeneration
The American Journal of Pathology reports that researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO have discovered new implications for the use of resveratrol – the polyphenol compound found in red wine – for preserving vision in blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy as well as age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in Americans over 50. The study’s senior investigator, specialist Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, familiar with the research which links resveratrol as an anti-aging compound, was interested in researching its effects to age-related eye disease.
Effects of Resveratrol in Angiogenesis Process
The formation of new blood vessels, called angiogenesis, plays a key role in certain cancers and fat deposits that can clog arteries. Experiments were conducted in mouse retinas, and researchers found that resveratrol can inhibit angiogenesis. Mice that had developed abnormal blood vessels in the retina after laser treatment were given resveratrol, after which the abnormal blood vessels began to disappear.
Benefits of Resveratrol as Treatment for Eye Diseases
A resveratrol supplement treatment may help three major eye diseases: age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity. All these diseases involve the obstruction or development of abnormal blood vessels beneath. Taking into account the almost 24 million persons affected with diabetes in the United States alone, and the aging of an entire generation of baby boomers, the incidence of these diseases is expected to grow within the next 10 years.
“This could potentially be a preventive therapy in high-risk patients,” says Dr. Apte. “And because it worked on existing, abnormal blood vessels in the animals, it may be a therapy that can be started after angiogenesis has already started to cause its damage.”
Because resveratrol is given orally, patients may prefer it to many current treatments for retinal disease, which involve eye injections.
Buccal Absorption of Resveratrol Supplements
The trials conducted involved large resveratrol dosage, much more than would be found in several bottles of red wine. This compound is easily absorbed in the body, but is most bioavailable when taken in the form of an intraoral buccal delivery resveratrol supplement. Absorption of resveratrol through the buccal mucosa without swallowing has been shown to have up to 250 greater levels of the compound in the blood plasma when compared to regular pills or capsules.
Resveratrol Extends Life Span in Animals
In 2008, Jason G. Wood, Siva Lavu, and David Sinclair of the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School in Boston; Blanka Rogina and Stephen L. Helfand of the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington; Konrad Howitz of Biomol Research Laboratories in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania; and Marc Tatar of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island conducted a study on Sirtuin activating compounds and their life extending properties on animals due to their replication of the properties of caloric restriction.
Particulars of the Study
Caloric restriction extends lifespan in numerous species. Sirtuin activating compounds (STACs) can promote the survival of human cells and extend the lifespan of yeast. Because resveratrol can significantly extend lifespan in yeast the study analyzed whether it could also extend lifespan in other animals like worms and flies.
Key Findings for Life Extention
The study demonstrated that red wine resveratrol and other Sirtuin activating compounds activate sirtuins from a species of worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) and a species of fly (Drosophila melanogaster)and extend the lifespan of these animals without reducing their ability to reproduce.
Resveratrol and the Effects of Moderate Wine Consumption on Menopause
G. Calabrese of the Department of Human Nutrition at Universita Cattolica in Piacennza, Italy took a close look at the health benefits of moderate wine consumption as it might impact menopause.
Leading up to this 1999 study, there was a great deal of literature surrounding the health benefits of resveratrol, a polyphenol naturally occurring in many foods and beverages. Its cancer preventative and heart disease preventative characteristics have made red wine resveratrol the focus of many studies. However, Calabrese intended to determine if these health benefits would extend themselves beyond cancer and heart disease and might be an influence on menopause.
Calabrese’s Findings Surrounding Resveratrol
The hypothesis of this study is based on the idea that the structure of resveratrol is so much like that of diethylstilbestrol, a drug prescribed to prevent miscarriages, that it might act as a phytoestrogen in humans.
Calabrese’s team conducted a population study, read literature on resveratrol’s effects on female reproduction, osteoporosis, and cancer, and they conducted various trials of their own.
Their findings concluded that moderate wine consumption appeared to act as a phytoestrogen, a compound in plants that simulates estrogen in humans. Resveratrol doses boosted the physiological reactions that typically accompany estrogen increases.
This activity could effectively moderate the effects and symptoms of menopause in women.
Studies Show Resveratrol May Assist In Skin Cancer Treatments
A study was released in 2002 from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia and the Cancer Prevention and the Cancer Prevention and Research Center, College of Pharmacy at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.
The Resveratrol Research Study
Drs. Richard M. Niles, Margaret McFarland, Mathew B. Weimer, Alka Redkar, Ya-Min Fu, and Gary G. Meadows examined the effect of resveratrol, a red wine ingredient, on the growth of two human skin cancer cell lines. The doctors found that this plant compound restricted growth and caused cell death in both skin cancer cell categories. Overall, the results suggest that the effect of resveratrol on skin cancer cells are justified and that resveratrol may be effective as a therapeutic or cancer prevention agent against skin cancer.
What is Resveratrol?
Resveratrol is a naturally occurring plant compound found in high concentrations in red grapes, red wine, peanuts and pine. It has been found to have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system. Resveratrol also reduces the growth of various types of tumor cells, and inhibits the creation of cancer in laboratory experiments. Studies have also shown that resveratrol benefits as a potent suppressor of tumor promotion. It has also been shown to suppress the growth of colon tumor cells, leukemia cells, breast and prostate cancer cells.