Resveratrol and Disease

Resveratrol Shows Promise as a Disease Fighter

No Resveratrol studies on humans have yet been reported. If you are ill, suspect you have a disease or are under a doctor's care, do not take Resveratrol before consulting a qualified physician.

Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease

Resveratrol may help prevent heart disease in two ways: as an antioxidant to prevent free radical damage to the circulatory system; and as an agent to prevent platelets from sticking together and forming blood clots.

Resveratrol is a universal antioxidant (able to protect against oxidation in both water and fat-based portions of cells).

Though that is an important benefit, Resveratrol is not as potent an antioxidant as others contained in red wine such as epicatechin and quercetin.

In addition, it is generally better to have a cocktail of antioxidants to protect all parts of the cells and to protect against all sorts of oxidative stress.

Reduced platelet aggregation has been demonstrated in several in vitro studies of Resveratrol (Rotondo S. at al., British Journal of Pharmacology, April 1998).

Trans-Resveratrol , the most biologically active form of Resveratrol, was shown to reduce the risk of heart attack in two ways. It interferes with the release of inflammatory compounds and it decreases the formation of sticky platelets and therefore blood clots.

Resveratrol's anti-platelet and antioxidant properties have, thus far, been demonstrated in vitro. Studies in animals and humans are needed.

Prevention or Cure for Cancer

The evidence for Resveratrol as a cancer preventive or curative agent is very mixed. As noted above, Resveratrol is a phytoestrogen and could actually promote the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors.

In vitro, Resveratrol has been shown to interfere with all three stages of cancer development - initiation, promotion and progression. Successful in vitro studies have been reported for many types of cancer cells: colon, esophageal, gastric, leukemia, pancreatic, prostate, skin and even breast.

If Resveratrol does develop into a cancer treatment, it is unlikely to be in pill form. The dosage would have to be massive (Boocock D.J. et al., Cancer Epidemiology, June 2007).

As well, pills would be an inefficient way to deliver the drug and would increase potential for negative side effects on healthy organs.

In animal models, topical application for skin cancer (Jang M. et al., Science, February 1997) and intra-peritoneal injection for gastrointestinal cancers (Fontecave M. et al., FEBS Letters, Vol. 421, 1998) have slowed and even prevented cancer growth.

As a cancer prophylactic, the news for oral Resveratrol is a bit better.

Resveratrol supplementation in small doses (1or 2 mg/kg) reduced the number and size of esophageal tumors (Li Z.G. et al., Carcinogenesis, September 2002) and prevented the development of colon and intestinal tumors (Fontcave ibid.) in mice which were injected with specific cancer causing agents.

The equivalent prophylactic dose for a 180 pound human would be 220 or 440 mg a day.

Protection against Alzheimer's

A joint study carried out at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the New York Medical College at Valhalla (Karuppagounder S.S. et al., Neurochemistry International, February 2009) supports the theory that Resveratrol (or other chemo-protective agents) may delay or mitigate the onset of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Mice fed a "clinically feasible oral dose" of Resveratrol for 45 days had a significant reduction in amyloid plaque formation which can lead to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

Insulin Regulation and Complications of Diabetes

Diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance which allows toxic levels of glucose to build up in the system.

Poorly managed, this build-up can cause disorientation, insulin shock and even death.

Sugar (glucose) is pro-inflammatory. Over time, high levels of sugar in the bloodstream can lead to circulatory damage (and in the extreme, loss of limbs), diabetic neuropathy (nerve pain) and even blindness.

Resveratrol shows promise for the management of diabetes and avoidance of all the above complications.

As noted in the section on Life Extension, Resveratrol stimulates the activity of Sirt-1 to promote a longer and stronger life. This marvelous enzyme (Sirt-1) has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivity in diabetic mice.

Initial mouse model studies of Resveratrol and diabetes used very large oral doses to demonstrate benefit.

Scientists are homing in on the lowest possible dose. A recent study showed increased insulin sensitivity at a dose of just 2.5 mg/kg of mouse body weight (Sun et al., Cell Metabolism, October 2007). Mathematically that converts to a very reasonable daily dose of 550 mg for a 180-pound human.

Another mouse model study demonstrated that Resveratrol is a potent neuroprotective agent against diabetic oxidative damage. Even in the presence of high blood sugar levels. 10 mg/kg injected intraperiteonally prevented oxidative damage to the central nervous system (Ates O. et al., Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, March 2007).

Finally a mouse model study into Resveratrol's effect on diabetic neuropathy showed that oral doses as low as 5 mg/kg significantly reduced nerve pain. The researchers also tested 10 and 20 mg doses and found that Resveratrol reduced pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor and excess nitric oxide in a dose-dependant manner (Sharma S. et al., Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology, February 2007).

The equivalent daily dose to manage diabetic pain for a 180-pound human would be between 1000 and 4400 mg. However, there have not yet been any reported human trial results.

No Resveratrol studies on humans have yet been reported. If you are ill, suspect you have a disease or are under a doctor's care, do not take Resveratrol before consulting a qualified physician.

More Resveratrol Articles

Resveratrol - Hope of Hype?
What is Resveratrol?
Resveratrol Research Results
Resveratrol Supplement Recommendations
Good News-Bad News on Resveratrol

This article is for information only. It does not purport to offer medical advice.