New Hints Seen That Red Wine May Slow Aging
The New York Times, June 4th, 2008
Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending human
lifespan, researchers say in a new report that is likely to give
impetus to the rapidly growing search for longevity drugs.
The study is based on dosing mice with resveratrol, an ingredient of
some red wines. Some scientists are already taking resveratrol in
capsule form, but others believe it is far too early to take the drug,
especially using wine as its source, until there is better data on its
safety and effectiveness.
The report is part of a new wave of interest in drugs that may
enhance longevity. On Monday, Sirtris, a startup founded in 2004 to
develop drugs with the same effects as resveratrol, completed its sale
to GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million.
Sirtris is seeking to develop drugs that activate protein agents known in people as sirtuins.
“The upside is so huge that if we are right, the company that
dominates the sirtuin space could dominate the pharmaceutical industry
and change medicine,” Dr. David Sinclair of the Harvard Medical School,
a co-founder of the company, said Tuesday.
Serious scientists have long derided the idea of life-extending
elixirs, but the door has now been opened to drugs that exploit an
ancient biological survival mechanism, that of switching the body’s
resources from fertility to tissue maintenance. The improved tissue
maintenance seems to extend life by cutting down on the degenerative
diseases of aging.
The reflex can be prompted by a faminelike diet, known as caloric
restriction, which extends the life of laboratory rodents by up to 30
percent but is far too hard for most people to keep to and in any case
has not been proven to work in humans.
Research started nearly 20 years ago by Dr. Leonard Guarente of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
showed recently that the famine-induced switch to tissue preservation
might be triggered by activating the body’s sirtuins. Dr. Sinclair, a
former student of Dr. Guarente, then found in 2003 that sirtuins could
be activated by some natural compounds, including resveratrol,
previously known as just an ingredient of certain red wines.
Dr. Sinclair’s finding led in several directions. He and others have
tested resveratrol’s effects in mice, mostly at doses far higher than
the minuscule amounts in red wine. One of the more spectacular results
was obtained last year by Dr. John Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics
and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France. He showed that
resveratrol could turn plain vanilla, couch-potato mice into champion
athletes, making them run twice as far on a treadmill before collapsing.
The company Sirtris, meanwhile, has been testing resveratrol and
other drugs that activate sirtuin. These drugs are small molecules,
more stable than resveratrol, and can be given in smaller doses. In
April, Sirtris reported that its formulation of resveratrol, called
SRT501, reduced glucose levels in diabetic patients.
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