The study conducted by an Australian biologist David Sinclair in collaboration with researchers from the US and Portugal, and published Friday in the Science journal, has settled the controversy over whether resveratrol in red wine can fight cancer, Alzheimer's Disease and Type II diabetes, on a positive note.
Ten years ago scientists had already discovered that the resveratrol found in red wine and chocolates could activate a protein known as ‘sirtuin’ which could fight age-related diseases. But the claim was disputed because the reaction could only be observed when a fluorescent chemical known as fluorophore was present.
However, the new study shows that resveratrol could have the desired effect in the absence of the synthetic chemical. Sinclair, who is from the University of NSW working in Harvard, said fluorophore mimicked the greasy amino acids that exist naturally in the body.
“It's as we thought-resveratrol really does turn on this anti-aging enzyme," Sinclair said, adding that ‘In the history of pharmaceuticals, there has never been a drug that tweaks an enzyme to make it run faster,’ according to a report in the Medical News Today (MNT) making it more active than any anti-oxidant.” He added that synthetic drugs that work the same way but with 100 times the potency could be available within five years.
About 4,000 varieties of the drug have been reportedly developed since 2005, with the more promising versions tested on mice and three progressing to human trials. “The studies are small so we can't claim victory yet, but the drugs appear to be safe in humans so far,” Sinclair reported said.
Sinclair is open to the possibility that small doses of resveratrol found in wine and chocolate could be beneficial due to its age-fighting properties when it reacts with amino acids that exist naturally in the body, but drinking a glass or two won't cure any major diseases since it's not potent enough, he asserts.
Sinclair concludes, ‘"Now we are looking at whether there are benefits for those who are already healthy. Things there are also looking promising. We're finding that aging isn't the irreversible affliction that we thought it was. Some of us could live to 150, but we won't get there without more research, because ultimately, these drugs would treat one disease, but unlike drugs of today, they would prevent 20 others. In effect, they would slow aging.”
The study may impact the wine market as well, insofar as many wine drinkers imbibe wine primarily for health reasons and not as a lifestyle drink. They would shift to these wine pills with no alcohol-especially in India where the non drinkers would be a ready market. Even the liquor lovers would perhaps love to add the pills to their daily regimen, presenting the pharmaceutical major GlaxoSmithKline which bought the technology in 2008, a great market of over 600 million over 30 years old.
Tags: anti-oxidant, resveratrol, David Sinclair, Harvard, GlaxoSmithKline |