Substance in grapes may aid humans

Here's to a long and healthy life
Nov. 2, 2006, ROB STEIN, SPECIAL TO THE STAR

WASHINGTON—A substance found in red wine protected mice from the ill effects of obesity, raising the tantalizing prospect the compound could do the same for humans and may also help people live longer, healthier lives, researchers reported yesterday.

The substance, called resveratrol, enabled mice that were fed a high-calorie, high-fat diet to live normal, active lives despite becoming obese — the first time any compound has been shown to do that. Tests found the substance — found in grape skins and in other plants, including peanuts and some berries — activated a host of genes that protect against the effects of aging, essentially neutralizing the adverse effects of a bad diet on the animals' health and lifespan.

Although much more work is needed to explore the benefits and safety of the substance, which is sold over the counter as a nutritional supplement, the findings could lead to the long-sought goal of extending the healthy human lifespan, experts said. Preliminary tests in people are already underway.

"We've been looking for something like this for the last 100,000 years, and maybe it's right around the corner — a molecule that could be taken in a single pill to delay the diseases of aging and keep you healthier as you grow old," said David Sinclair, a Harvard University molecular biologist who led the study. "The potential impact would be huge."

Sinclair has a financial stake in the research, Associated Press reports. He is co-founder of a pharmaceutical firm, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., which is testing the safety of using the extract on humans for diabetes treatment.

Researchers noted the subject mice took such high doses of resveratrol that it would be the equivalent of an adult drinking 100 bottles of wine daily.

The anti-aging findings, published in today's issue of the journal Nature, triggered excitement among scientists studying aging, who hailed them as groundbreaking.

"This represents a likely major landmark," said Stephen Helfand of Brown University, who studies the molecular genetics of aging. "This really pushes the field forward. It's quite exciting."

Previous research has shown laboratory animals fed very low-calorie diets live significantly longer, which has prompted some people to try strenuous "caloric restriction" diets as a possible fountain of youth, even though its effectiveness remains unproven.

To examine for the first time whether resveratrol could also extend longevity in mammals, Sinclair and his colleagues studied year-old mice, the equivalent of middle-aged humans.

One third were fed a standard diet, another third ate the equivalent of a junk-food diet, with 60 per cent of calories coming from fat, and the last third lived on the unhealthy diet (scientists called it a McDonald's diet) combined with resveratrol.

After a year, the researchers found both groups of mice on the junk food diet got fat, and those that didn't get resveratrol experienced a host of health problems, including early signs of diabetes and heart disease. They tended to die prematurely.

But the mice that got resveratrol remained healthy and lived as long as the animals on a normal diet and stayed thin — adding the equivalent of 10 or 20 human years to their lifespan.

Washington Post, files from Star wires