Resveratrol, a molecule found in the skin of red grapes, among other places, has been found to have a host of health effects, most recently prolonging the life spans of obese mice. But the natural wonder drug does not play a role in the beneficial effects of wine drinking, according to research published in the November 28 issue of Nature. "There are some fascinating effects of resveratrol in animal systems," notes plant biochemist Alan Crozier of the University of Glasgow. "To get similar doses into humans through red wine, you would have to consume more than 1,000 liters of red wine a day."

Because drinking that much wine is beyond even the hardiest oenophile--yes, even those in France--Crozier and his colleague Roger Corder of Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry in London set out to identify exactly the compounds in red wine that promote heart health. Using the endothelial cells that line human artery walls, the researchers tested which compounds in wine had the greatest effect. The tests showed that flavonoids called oligomeric procyanidins--essentially condensed tannins, the compounds that impart bitterness to young reds--suppressed production of the peptide responsible for hardening arteries. Such procyanidins can make up as much as 50 percent of the bioactive compounds in a given wine, the researchers observed. "Resveratrol," Crozier notes, "is available at one one-hundredth or one one-thousandth of the levels of procyanidin." Corder adds: "The role of resveratrol in the health benefits of wine has been popularized without any scientific evidence to support it, given the amounts needed for these actions are approximately 1,000-fold greater than could be achieved by wine consumption."

Using French census data, the two researchers then compared regions that had unusually long-lived men with the wine produced in those areas. The Nuoro province of Sardinia and the Gers region of southwestern France both support relatively more men who survive past 75 years of age. Not coincidentally, these regions also produce local wines that are as much as four times richer in procyanidins than other wines. Traditional wine-making techniques proved key: by allowing the grapes to linger on the vine for as long as possible and then leaving them to ferment for as long as four weeks (compared with the more typical one-week period of major wineries, which keeps the level of harsh tannins low), vintners in these regions produce prodigious amounts of procyanidin.

Also crucial are the type of grape involved (Tannat in Gers, a small, seedy fruit rarely grown outside the southwest of France) and the elevation at which it is grown (ultraviolet helps catalyze the production of procyanidins in the high-elevation vineyards of Sardinia). "It is not something that in theory is unique to these areas," Crozier adds. "It could become more widespread." Of course, understanding exactly how procyanidins work in the human body remains to be investigated, and the researchers plan to dose people with the compound in a future clinical trial. In the meantime, a few glasses of wine--particularly a full-bodied one--remain a recipe for a stronger heart.

3 Comments

1. 1. JackieHandunge 07:15 PM 6/27/09

   Thanks for the posting, came across this site and would like to share it with others, great site with a whole lot of information and advice on High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Cholesterol and Stroke 
   http://www.bizymoms.com/cares/heart_health/index.html
   Information on diseases known as the Silent Killers and advice on regular medical checkups and early diagnosis and symptoms.
   

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2. 2. fyh71 02:03 PM 11/14/09

   Resveratrol is a plant polyphenol capable of exerting beneficial metabolic effects which are thought to be mediated in large by the activation of the NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylase SIRT1. Although resveratrol has been claimed to be a bona fide SIRT1 activator using a peptide substrate (Fluor de Lys-SIRT1 peptide substrate), recent reports indicate that this finding might be an experimental artifact and need to be clarified. Here, we show that: (i) the Fluor de Lys-SIRT1 peptide is an artificial SIRT1 substrate because in the absence of the covalently linked fluorophore the peptide itself is not a substrate of the enzyme, (ii) resveratrol does not activate SIRT1 in vitro in the presence of either a p53-derived peptide substrate or acetylated PGC-1alpha isolated from cells, and (iii) although SIRT1 deacetylates PGC-1alpha in both in vitro and cell-based assays, resveratrol did not activate SIRT1 under these conditions. Based on these observations, we conclude that the pharmacological effects of resveratrol in various models are unlikely to be mediated by a direct enhancement of the catalytic activity of the SIRT1 enzyme. In consequence, our data challenge the overall utility of resveratrol as a pharmacological tool to directly activate SIRT1.
   
   http://www.myhealthfulworld.com/content/resveratrol-not-a-direct-activator-sirt1-enzyme-activity

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3. 3. ariasullivan 10:28 AM 12/15/11

   I didn't realize that <a href="http://www.nznature.co.nz">resveratrol</a> didn't play a role in the health benefits of red wine. Still, I suppose it doesn't matter what makes the wine healthy, as long as it produces results.

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