Low Doses of Resveratrol Slow Aging in Mice

Molecule found in red wine mimics many effects of calorie-restricted diets

FRIDAY, June 6 (HealthDay News) -- Resveratrol, a natural molecule found in red wine, appears to be as effective as calorie-restricted diets in slowing some aspects of aging in mice, based on gene expression profiling analysis, according to study findings published in the June 4 issue of PLoS One.

Jamie Barger, Ph.D., of LifeGen Technologies in Madison, Wis., and colleagues examined the transcriptional profiles of mice, which they had randomly separated into three groups and, beginning in middle age (14 months), given either calorie-restricted diets, diets supplemented by low-dose resveratrol, or control diets. After the mice reached 30 months, the researchers performed gene expression profiling of cardiac, skeletal muscle and brain tissue using an Affymetrix system.

The researchers found that calorie restriction and resveratrol both inhibited gene expression profiles associated with cardiac and skeletal muscle aging, and they also prevented age-related cardiac dysfunction. In addition, both calorie restriction and resveratrol appeared to impact pathways that determine chromatin remodeling, and resveratrol mimicked the effects of calorie restriction in insulin-mediated glucose uptake in muscle.

"Clinical trials with resveratrol should be conducted to test the relevance of these findings to humans," the authors write. "Because cardiac disease is a major contributor to age-related mortality, positive findings could lead to a novel and important approach to improve the quality of human life."

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