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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Red wine studies – fights cancer, worsens MS

Two studies on the health effects of red wine’s essential element
By Science Daily with commentary from Will Collette

My doctor advised me that one to two glasses of red wine a day is not only acceptable but healthy. It lowers my blood glucose and aids in controlling my diabetes. Plus, lots of medical research points to numerous health benefits from red wine’s high levels of resveratrol.

Lots of other doctors across the US also recommend red wine. Millions of health conscious consumers are plunking down serious money to buy capsules of resveratrol.

Since I enjoy my glass of red wine and am hopeful that it will deliver on all those health benefits, I have been paying attention to the research. I noted with interest that on the same day, Science Daily published reviews of two separate medical research studies on the effects of resveratrol that underscore how you have to pay attention and remember that there are very few universal cures.

Here are the two Science Daily abstracts"



Red Wine Chemical, Resveratrol, Remains Effective Against Cancer After the Body Converts It
Resveratrol, Found in Red Wine, Worsens MS-Like Symptoms
A chemical found in red wine remains effective at fighting cancer even after the body's metabolism has converted it into other compounds.

This is an important finding in a new paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine by Cancer Research UK-funded researchers at the University of Leicester's Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine.

The paper reveals that resveratrol -- a compound extracted from the skins of red grapes -- is not rendered ineffective once it is metabolised by the body.

This is an important development, as resveratrol is metabolised very quickly -- and it had previously been thought that levels of the extracted chemical drop too quickly to make it usable in clinical trials.

The new research shows that the chemical can still be taken into cells after it has been metabolised into resveratrol sulfates.

Enzymes within cells are then able to break it down into resveratrol again -- meaning that levels of resveratrol in the cells are higher than was previously thought.

In fact, the results appear to show resveratrol may be more effective once it has been generated from resveratrol sulfate than it is if it has never been metabolised because the concentrations achieved are higher.

The team, led by University of Leicester translational cancer research expert Professor Karen Brown, administered resveratrol sulfate to mice models.

They were subsequently able to detect free resveratrol in plasma and a variety of tissues in the mice.

This is the first direct sign that resveratrol can be formed from resveratrol sulfate in live animals, and the researchers think it may help to show how resveratrol is able to have beneficial effects in animals.

The study also showed that resveratrol generated from resveratrol sulfate is able to slow the growth of cancer cells by causing them to digest their own internal constituents and stopping them from dividing.

Professor Karen Brown said: "There is a lot of strong evidence from laboratory models that resveratrol can do a whole host of beneficial things -- from protecting against a variety of cancers and heart disease to extending lifespan.

"It has been known for many years that resveratrol is rapidly converted to sulfate and glucuronide metabolites in humans and animals -- meaning the plasma concentrations of resveratrol itself quickly become very low after administration.

"It has always been difficult to understand how resveratrol is able to have activity in animal models when the concentrations present are so low, and it has made some people skeptical about whether it might have any effects in humans.

"Researchers have hypothesized for a long time that resveratrol might be regenerated from its major metabolites in whole animals but it has never been proven.

"Our study was the first to show that resveratrol can be regenerated from sulfate metabolites in cells and that this resveratrol can then have biological activity that could be useful in a wide variety of diseases in humans.

"Importantly, we did all our work with clinically achievable concentrations so we are hopeful that our findings will translate to humans.

"Overall, I think our findings are very encouraging for all types of medical research on resveratrol. They help to justify future clinical trials where, previously, it may have been difficult to argue that resveratrol can be useful in humans because of the low detectable concentrations.

"There is considerable commercial interest in developing new forms of resveratrol that can resist or overcome the issue of rapid metabolism. Our results suggest such products may not actually be necessary to deliver biologically active doses of resveratrol to people."

Dr Sarah Williams, Cancer Research UK health information officer, said: "This interesting study supports continued research into resveratrol as a therapeutic molecule, but it's important to note that any benefits from the molecule don't come from drinking red wine. It's well established that drinking any type of alcohol, including red wine, increases the risk of developing cancer."

The study was carried out over eight years, and was funded by the Cancer Research UK and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre in Leicester, and the US National Cancer Institute.


Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Leicester, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

1.                  Ketan R. Patel, Catherine Andreadi, Robert G. Britton, Emma Horner-Glister, Ankur Karmokar, Stewart Sale, Victoria A. Brown, Dean E. Brenner, Rajinder Singh, William P. Steward, Andreas J. Gescher and Karen Brown. Sulfate Metabolites Provide an Intracellular Pool for Resveratrol Generation and Induce Autophagy with SenescenceScience Translational Medicine, 2013 DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.3005870

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University of Leicester (2013, October 2). Red wine chemical, resveratrol, remains effective against cancer after the body converts it. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2013/10/131002141113.htm
Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenol compound produced by the skin of red grapes and peanuts, and found in red wine, has been touted as a beneficial supplement due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

This has been supported by some experimental studies, whereas others suggest a lack of benefit.

A new study using two multiple sclerosis (MS) models published in The American Journal of Pathology has found that resveratrol actually worsened MS-like neuropathology and inflammation and had no neuroprotective effects.

"Resveratrol may have detrimental effects in some disease conditions and should be discouraged for supplemental use by MS patients pending further research," says lead investigator Ikuo Tsunoda, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Molecular & Tumor Virology of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA.

Investigators (Fumitaka Sato, PhD, et al) tested resveratrol in autoimmune and viral models of MS. In the autoimmune model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in 6-week-old mice using myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)35-55 peptide.

Mice were fed either a control diet or a diet containing resveratrol for 2 months or only during the early (days -1 to 8) or the late (days 14 to 23) phases of EAE.

Around 12 days after MOG sensitization, all groups started to develop clinical signs, such as tail and hind limb paralysis, and the symptoms worsened and peaked by 3 weeks.

After 5 weeks, mice fed the control diet showed either complete recovery or mild paralysis, but all three groups fed resveratrol exhibited severe and lasting EAE without remission.

Spinal cord neuropathology showed higher pathology scores in demyelination, meningitis, perivascular cuffing (inflammation), and overall pathology in mice that had been given resveratrol during the early phase compared with mice fed a control diet, whereas mice treated with resveratrol during the entire treatment period had significantly higher pathology scores in meningitis and overall pathology than controls.

Groups did not differ in brain pathology scores.
Although it has been suggested that resveratrol has anti-inflammatory properties, in this study resveratrol did not suppress autoimmune responses as measured by levels of MOG35-55-specific lymphoproliferative responses and pro-inflammatory cytokine production.

To see whether resveratrol had anti-viral properties, as has been reported, 5-week-old mice were infected intracerebrally with the Daniels (DA) strain of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) to induce TMEV-induced demyelinating disease (TMEV-IDD).

The mice were fed either a control diet or one containing resveratrol from days 35 to 48 (the chronic phase).

Similar to the findings from the EAE model, mice treated with resveratrol developed significantly more severe TMEV-IDD compared with the controls.

Another study using the GDVII strain of TMEV to see whether resveratrol could suppress neurodegeneration caused by direct viral infection, not by immunopathology, found that resveratrol had no neuroprotective activity against the virus.

"Resveratrol did not show anti-viral effects in TMEV infection," says Dr. Tsunoda, although he notes that resveratrol has been shown by others to have anti-viral effects on some viruses related to MS, such as herpes simplex virus and Epstein-Barr virus.

To explain their findings, the authors suggest that resveratrol's vasodilating effects via endothelial cells might enhance infiltration of inflammatory cells into the central nervous system, which in turn might play a key role in the pathogenesis of MS.

The degree to which resveratrol exacerbated demyelination and inflammation surprised the research team.

"Our findings illustrate that caution should be exercised for potential therapeutic application of resveratrol in human inflammatory demyelination diseases, including MS," says Dr. Tsunoda.


Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Elsevier Health Sciences, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
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 MLA
Elsevier Health Sciences (2013, October 1). Resveratrol, found in red wine, worsens MS-like symptoms. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 3, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2013/10/131001091501.htm