Welcome to my blog which is dedicated to medical research on resveratrol, an extract from certain fruits which has positive medical effects.  It was discovered over forty years ago but most of the research on it has been done in the past five years.  As of this month, over 4100 articles on resveratrol have been published in medical journals.  Each month I highlight recent research and all of my information comes from pubmed.com, a branch of the National Library of Medicine which is free and open to anyone.

Heart Health:  The University of Manitoba in Canada published a paper on heart cels in rats with high blood pressure.  Half were given resveratrol and the other half not.  When heart cells are exposed to noradrenaline, a hormone produced during stress, they enlarge to produce a stronger contraction.  In the short term that is a good thing but in the long term it can ultimately lead to heart disease.  Hypertension accelerates these changes.  All of the rats were sacrificed and their heart muscle studied under a microscope.  Resveratrol prevented the noradrenaline induced enlargement of the heart muscle cells in the rats with high blood pressure.  Eur J Pharmacol July 2011

Diabetes:  In diabetics, hardening of the arteries or arteriosclerosis occurs earlier and faster than in nondiabetics.  From the University of Texas San Antonio comes a paper reporting on diabetic mice.  Half had resveratrol added to their diet and the other half did not.  They were then all fed a high fat diet and given a drug to speed up the artery-hardening process.  After 11 weeks  all the mice were killed and the arteries were examined for hard areas caled plaques.  The  resveratrol supplemented mice had 31% fewer plaques than those not supplemented.  Yet another reason to add  resveratrol to our diet.  Atherosclerosis June 2011

Heart Health:  "Calorie restriction is one of the most effective nutritional interventions that reproducibly protects protects agaist obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease."  It is safe and effective. Resveratrol is the most widely studied molecule that appears to mimic calorie restriction.  The two appear to work in a similar fashion to prevent arteriosclerosis, reduce blood pressure, prevent dangerous increases in heart cell size (see the first article) and heart failure prevention.  So far all of the research has been on animals.  Because it is safe and effective, the authors suggest that it is time for human studies.  Biochim Biophys Act.  July 2011

Human Research:  From the University of Pennsylvania comes a paper explaining why most of the research on natural products like  resveratrol is done on lab animals and cell cultures.  First there is no monetary incentive to do human research using a product that other companies have access to.  There is no patent protection, and therefore extremely risking profit potential. Secondly, because  resveratrol is not patentable , nutriceutical companies make a product blended with other natural products to make their own proprietary blend making it extremely difficult to compare their data with that from other labs and othe companies using different blends or even pure  resveratrol.  Thirdly, natural supplements commonly have multiple targets with different dose response profiles, tissue distributions, and modifiers.  The few human studies "combined with a growing list of animal studies provide a strong justification for further study."  Whether that includes human research is uncertain.  J Gerontol A Biol lSci Med Sci July 2011

Cancers:  There were two papers published on  resveratrol and two cancers that are difficult to treat.  From Southeast University Nanjing, China is a study of pancreatic cancer cells in cultures and how  resveratrol speeds up cell death.  There was no toxicity in normal pancreatic cells.  The more rapid cancer cell deaths hold promise as a new way to treat pancreatic cancer.  From the Fourth Military Hospital in China comes an article on glioblastoma cells.  This is a type of brain cancer that is also difficult to treat successfully.  In cultures of glioblastoma cells, when  resveratrol is added it not only speeds up cell deaths but also slows the growth in living cancer cells.  This all occurred without toxicity.  Chin Med J June 2011  Oncol Rep July 2011

Diabetes:  From Rhode Island Hospital, Providence comes a paper on Yorkshire miniswine.  The animals were divided into three groups.  One was given a regular diet, another a high fat diet, and the third a high fat with  resveratrol.  Blood sugars and insulin levels were measured.  The high fat group had increased insulin and blood sugar levels over the other two groups.  All the animals were then euthanized (killed) and muscle and liver tissues were studied.  The conclusion was that  resveratrol "positively influences sugar metabolism pathways in liver and muscle and leads to improved sugar control in swine"  Arch Surg May 2011 556-64

Diabetes:  A smilar study was done at the German Food Research Center for Food Chemistry in Freising.  Rats were studied. Half were supplemented with  resveratrol and all were fed a high carbohydrate diet.  The  resveratrol group had a 35% decrease in sugar and a 41% decrease in insulin over the non-treated group.  0ol Nutr Food Res July 2011

Prostate Cancer:  A paper from the University of Mississippi looked at how  resveratrol helps prevent the onset of  prostate cancer.  Prostate cells in culture dishes were exposed to a chemical that causes normal prostate cells to turn into cancer cells.  Half were pretreated with  resveratrol.  Through a compound called microRNA, the  resveratrol caused a decrease in the cancer causing effect of the carcinogen and increased tumor suppression by the normal cells.  Whether the microRNA is the actual pathway is unclear but my bottom line is that fewer normal cells turned into cancer cells. Mol Nutr Food Res June 2011

As you can see,  resveratrol can be used to prevent certain conditions like hardening of arteries, and can also be used to control diabetes, prevent or treat cancers and protect the heart.  Remember that Shaklee's  resveratrol, VIVIX, is ten times as potent as other products out there.  Food for thought for the health conscious perso.

Until next time,

Dr Bob

MALE HEALTH

MALE HEALTH

Welcome once again to those who share an interest in resveratrol. As you know, resveratrol is an extract of various fruits such as blueberries and grapes. It’s various properties studied in labs include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, blood sugar lowering, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, anticancer, and improved healing. The following are summaries of articles from medical journals on resveratrol from the National Library of Medicine.

TESTOSTERONE From the Chongbuk National University in Korea comes a study of rabbits with resveratrol added to their diet. After 28 days on resveratrol, the rabbits had an increase in blood testosterone of 51.6%, and testicular sperm counts of 15.8% and a 23.3% in epididymal sperm motility. These same rabbits also had stronger erections. There is a positive effect on the reproductive function in rabbits on resveratrol. Arch Pharm Res 2008 June; 31 (1) 83-87

TESTOSTERONE Rats were studied at the University of Barcelona in Spain. Half of a group of adult male rats were fed resveratrol and the other half not. After 90 days the participants were sacrificed and the testicular tissue was studied under the microscope. The resveratrol group had about twice the sperm count as the control group with no difference in the quality of the sperm. The resveratrol group also had higher testosterone levels, and there no side effects from the resveratrol. J Nutr Apr 2005 135: 757-60

PROSTATE CANCER From the University of Mississippi comes a study on prostate cancer. They studied human prostate cancer cells growing as a culture and the microRNAs they contain. Some microRNAs stimulate cancer cells to grow faster, and others slow the growth. In cells exposed to resveratrol the growth microRNAs are decreased and the suppression microRNAs are increased resulting in a much slower growth rate. Mol Food Res 2011 Aug; 55 (8): 1219-1229

CANCER The M D Anderson Cancer Center published a review article about tumors developing resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, so they are looking for effective chemosensitizers, drugs making the tumor cells more sensitive to chemo. Resveratrol can sensitize tumor cells to a variety of chemotherapy drugs. Tumor cells in cell cultures which have been chemosensitized include lung cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, prostate cancer, oral epidermoid cancer, pancreatic cancer, promyelocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma. Their conclusion was that resveratrol can be used to sensitize tumor cells to standard cancer drugs. Ann NY Acad Sci 2011 Jan; 1215: 150-60

PROSTATE CANCER At the University of Texas San Antonio, human prostate cancer cells were implanted into mice. Half of the mice were pre-fed resveratrol. The mice were later killed and examined, looking for tumor size, and the number of metastases. The resveratrol group had smaller tumor sizes and fewer metastases than the control which did not receive resveratrol. None of the mice survived the study and it is a stretch to say that resveratrol should be used in prostate cancer patients, but it can’t hurt. PLoSOne 2010 Dec 28; 5(12): e15627

PROSTATE CANCER I know you are seeing a pattern here, but I am a urologist, so indulge me. We’ve seen articles on treating existing prostate cancer. Let’s look at something that might prevent prostate cancer. There is a virus called SV40 Tag which will cause prostate cancer when injected into mice. At the University of Alabama, half of a group of mice were fed resveratrol and the other half not. They were then all injected with SV40 Tag. The mice were then killed 12 or 30 weeks after the injection and checked for prostate cancer. You guessed it. The resveratrol group had more mice without prostate cancer than the group not on resveratrol. There was a significant number of cancers that were prevented. This paper then went into the various pathways involved in cancer prevention. Prostate 2009 Nov 1; 69(15) 1668-82

In this blog I have concentrated on male health. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. The risk goes up if there is prostate cancer in a relative. As noted in other blogs, there are a variety of sources of resveratrol on the market. Vivix from the Shaklee Corporation is ten times stronger than its closest competitor. Why not go for the best.

Until the next time,

Dr Bob