more resveratrol studies

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The Resveratrol Mouse Studies You Didn't Read about in the New York

Times or Wall Street Journal

While the news media races to Harvard Medical School to interview

Dr. Sinclair about his astonishing resveratrol/mouse study

published in Nature Magazine, a number of other astounding rodent

studies involving resveratrol have recently been published but have

been overlooked.

Estrogen is believed to promote women's health. Researchers in

China report that resveratrol had profound positive effects upon the

mental activity of female mice that had their ovaries removed to

mimic menopause. Resveratrol (at a human equivalent dose of 1050

milligrams) improved mental performance in Alzheimer & #146;s disease

mice. Resveratrol was shown to inhibit acetacholinesterase, the

enzyme that erases acetycholine (the memory molecule) from the

brain. Acetacholinesterase-inhibiting drugs are currently used to

treat Alzheimer's disease. [ & #145;Zhong Nan Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban.

2006 Aug; 31(4):566-9]

Boston University Medical Center researchers found resveratrol in

mice activated an enzyme (AMP-activated protein kinase) better than

metformin, a commonly used anti-diabetic drug. Resveratrol promoted

utilization of insulin and overcame insulin resistance, believed to

be responsible for most cases of adult-onset diabetes. Like the

Harvard study, resveratrol also inhibited the buildup of fat in the

liver of mice. [Diabetes. 2006 Aug; 55(8):2180-91]

Critics claim that many of the health benefits of red wine emanate

from its alcohol content rather than resveratrol. Researchers in

Nanjing, China, provided de-alcoholized red wine (human equivalent

280 mg per day) or trans resveratrol (human equivalent 210 mg per

day) to rabbits fed a high cholesterol diet. Surprisingly, high

cholesterol-fed animals showed a significant increase in blood

plasma levels of total, LDL and HDL cholesterol, but not

triglycerides. This may sound dismaying. However, when aortic

arteries were dissected and examined, the size, density and area of

cholesterol plaque in these animals was significantly reduced

whether they were given dealcoholized red wine, red wine, or

resveratrol. The arteries of animals not given wine, de-alcoholized

red wine or resveratrol were clearly clogged with cholesterol

plaque, proving that resveratrol, and not alcohol, is the active

agent that promotes arterial health. [international Journal

Molecular Medicine 2005 Oct; 16(4):533-40]

Maco