Red Wine substance may extend human life span

A substance found in red wine, grapes and other fruits contains the damaging effects of a high-fat diet in mice, and can extend the lives of obese mice and make them healthier, according to a landmark US study carried out by the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging.

The US researchers published a study on Wednesday in the latest edition of the British journal Nature that says the obese mice showed significant results when they consumed ultrahigh doses of red wine extract.

The ingredient, called Resveratrol, is a polyphenolic compound which lies in the skin of red grapes and, therefore, in red wine. This compound had already shown some spectacular results of lower cardiovascular illnesses in worms, fruit flies and yeast.

The latest study on mice is the first to reveal that Resveratrol has survival benefits in a mammal, researchers said in a statement. However, it's far too early to know if this would work in humans, they said.

In their experiment, the research team split the mice into three sections: one was given a normal diet, other a high-fat diet, and the third a high-fat diet with Resveratrol. After observing them for 114 weeks, they found that 58 per cent of the high-fat only group had died whereas only 42 percent had died in the other groups.

The scientists noticed that the obese mice treated with Resveratrol had a median increase of about 15 percent in lifespan. However, the final figure can be obtained only after the death of all the mice included in the experiment, the researchers said.

The earlier studies on worms and fruit flies indicated that the natural antioxidant, Resveratrol had increased their life spans by 30 percent and 60 percent, respectively.

"After six months, Resveratrol essentially prevented most of the negative effects of the high-calorie diet in mice," said the other co-senior investigator, Rafael de Cabo, of the National Institute on Aging. Furthermore, the Resveratrol treated obese mice reduced their risk of death by 31 percent, nearly the same as for those on a normal diet.

According to Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School, who headed the research team, the Resveratrol mice were also leading more active lives. "The striking thing is this molecule has extended the lives of every laboratory organism we have fed it to,” he said. "The healthspan benefits we saw in the obese mice treated with Resveratrol, such as increased insulin sensitivity, decreased glucose levels, healthier heart and liver tissues, are positive clinical indicators.

The novel study, which shows that mammals given high doses of Resveratrol can get the good effects of cutting calories without actually doing it, also showed that the heavy dose of Resveratrol minimizes the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other ill effects.

''If we're right about this, it would mean you could have the benefit of restricting calories without having to feel hungry,'' Sinclair said. ''It's the Holy Grail of aging research.''

Despite the fact that the study is performed on mice and does not reveal the effects of mega doses of Resveratrol in humans, still the findings could lead to the long-sought goal of extending the healthy human life span, experts said.

"Mice are much closer evolutionarily to humans than any previous model organism treated by this molecule, which offers hope that similar impacts might be seen in humans without negative side-effects," said Sinclair.

Sinclair is co-founder of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., a pharmaceutical firm of Cambridge, Mass. The firm is currently testing diabetic humans to see if the extract can be used to treat humans with diabetes.