Nuture Podcast discusses these findings with Sirtris Pharmaceuticals,
who conducted the study.
http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/index.html


[Thanks, Bob, for letting us and readers know about this. Nature's audio feature
is not limited to iPod users; any mp3 or mp4 player on one's computer will work.
We used Lsongs from our Linspire (Linux) browser, but we could also have used
Kplayer or RealPlayer (those with Netscape or IExplorer can use any of the major
audio players).

According to Nature at the page for the link above, the transcripts of archived
programs are available. This one which contains the approximately 5 minute
interview with David Sinclair (5 papers in PubMed on resveratrol) is the first
on the program which contains several on other subjects (we listened only to
it). Next week it will also be available as a text (html) file also. The entire
archive listing for these weekly science news/interview programs is available -
http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/archivetranscripts.html

Thanks again, Bob, for letting everyone know about this feature. **Kitty]

[As usual, particularly with scientists who have a financial stake in a company
developing patentable products, Sinclair dismisses the notion of supplementing
with resveratrol, and instead wants people to wait for the development of a
patentable synthetic analog of resveratrol. Such an analog (which may or may not
be as safe and effective) will be many years at extreme cost satisfying
government regulators before it can be marketed and then will only be able to be
marketed for use against defined diseases (of which general aging dysfunction is
currently not one) for which it has been approved by those regulators. This kind
of essentially dishonest behavior from such scientists is very common in the
current social environment where most people think that it is in their best
interest to try to get something for nothing, rather than to pay value for value
for what benefits them. I and Kitty have been taking resveratrol for sometime
now and will likely increase our dosages as a result of this new work, although
not likely until the lifespan increases for normally fed mice are actually
determined. It is not clear whether this latest study finds an increase in
health and lifespan for mice fed a healthy standard diet or merely for mice fed
a diet more like the poor standard American diet (SAD), referred to in the
interview as a "MacDonald's diet". If only the latter, then this result is not
yet really a true lifespan increase result.
Here are a few other links to articles about the same news item.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/061101_resveratrol.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/science/02drug.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=5c3164a8\
ce76e512&ex=1162616400&pagewanted=all

--Paul]


[Here is the abstract copied from Nature, along with the link to it:

Nature advance online publication 1 November 2006
doi:10.1038/nature05354

Resveratrol improves health and survival of mice on a high-calorie diet

Joseph A. Baur1, Kevin J. Pearson, Nathan L. Price, Hamish A. Jamieson, Carles
Lerin, Avash Kalra, Vinayakumar V. Prabhu, Joanne S. Allard, Guillermo
Lopez-Lluch, Kaitlyn Lewis, Paul J. Pistell, Suresh Poosala, Kevin G. Becker,
Olivier Boss, Dana Gwinn, Mingyi Wang, Sharan Ramaswamy, Kenneth W. Fishbein,
Richard G. Spencer, Edward G. Lakatta, David Le Couteur, Reuben J. Shaw11,
Placido Navas, Pere Puigserver, Donald K. Ingram, Rafael de Cabo and David A.
Sinclair

Abstract

Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene) extends the lifespan of diverse species
including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila
melanogaster. In these organisms, lifespan extension is dependent on Sir2, a
conserved deacetylase proposed to underlie the beneficial effects of caloric
restriction. Here we show that resveratrol shifts the physiology of middle-aged
mice on a high-calorie diet towards that of mice on a standard diet and
significantly increases their survival. Resveratrol produces changes associated
with longer lifespan, including increased insulin sensitivity, reduced
insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I) levels, increased AMP-activated protein
kinase (AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator
1alpha (PGC-1alpha) activity, increased mitochondrial number, and improved motor
function. Parametric analysis of gene set enrichment revealed that resveratrol
opposed the effects of the high-calorie diet in 144 out of 153 significantly
altered pathways. These data show that improving general health in mammals using
small molecules is an attainable goal, and point to new approaches for treating
obesity-related disorders and diseases of ageing.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nature05354.html

The effects of resveratrol supplementation mentioned in the abstract are very
intriguing. However the abstract does not make clear any more than the news
reports whether any beneficial effect was found from resveratrol supplementation
on mice fed a healthy standard diet. In fact it appears that they did not test
the effect of resveratrol supplementation on mice on healthy diets but only on
mice on a high calorie diet. Clicking on the second link Paul gave above and
scrolling down a bit one can see a figure on the left which shows survival
curves for three groups of mice. Mice on a high calorie diet, mice on a high
calorie diet plus resveratrol, and mice on a standard diet. This strongly
indicates they did not test resveratrol supplementation on mice on a standard
diet. I would have to see the full text article to be sure though. Unfortunately
while I do have online access to full text articles published by Nature there is
a 365 days embargo on the online coverage of the articles so I won't be able to
access it until a year from now.

I personally do not take resveratrol at this time and have not changed my mind
as a result of this new research. I don't consider the potential benefits worth
the cost for me as evidence for benefits in those eating a healthy diet is still
lacking. -°Olafur]