Wine shows new promise vs. aging
Researchers test ingredient found in certain reds
NEW YORK - Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending the human lifespan, researchers say in a new report that is likely to give impetus to the rapidly growing search for longevity drugs.
The study is based on dosing mice with resveratrol, an ingredient of some red wines. Some scientists are already taking resveratrol in capsule form, but others believe it is far too early to take the drug, especially using wine as its source, until there is better data on its safety and effectiveness.
The report is part of a wave of interest in drugs that may enhance longevity. On Monday, Sirtris, founded in 2004 to develop drugs with the same effects as resveratrol, completed its sale to
Serious scientists have long derided the idea of life-extending elixirs, but the door has now been opened to drugs that exploit an ancient biological survival mechanism, that of switching the body's resources from fertility to tissue maintenance. The improved tissue maintenance seems to extend life by cutting down on the degenerative diseases of aging.
The reflex can be prompted by a famine-like diet that extends the life of laboratory rodents by up to 30 percent, but is far too hard for most people to keep to and has not been proven to work in humans.
Research started nearly 20 years ago by Dr. Leonard Guarente of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed recently that the famine-induced switch to tissue preservation may be triggered by activating the body's sirtuins. Sinclair, a former student of his, then found in 2003 that sirtuins could be activated by a number of natural compounds, including resveratrol, previously known as just an ingredient of certain red wines.
Sinclair and others have tested resveratrol's effects in mice, mostly at doses far higher than the amounts present in red wine.
One of the more spectacular results was obtained last year by Dr. John Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France. He showed that resveratrol could turn couch-potato mice into champion athletes, making them run twice as far on a treadmill.
Separately, a research team led by Tomas A. Prolla and Richard Weindruch of the University of Wisconsin reports in the journal PLoS One today that resveratrol may be effective in mice and people in much lower doses.
