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