It would make one wonder whether Corticosteroids are used to lower red
blood cell count .. since grape juice is thought to cause ..
anemia .. ?
http://tinyurl.com/27lyoa
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Cell Press
Low doses of a red wine ingredient fight diabetes in mice
Even relatively low doses of resveratrol-a chemical found in the skins
of red grapes and in red wine-can improve the sensitivity of mice to
the hormone
insulin, according to a report in the October issue of
Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. As insulin resistance is
often characterized as the most critical factor contributing to the
development of type 2 diabetes, the findings "provide a potential new
therapeutic approach for preventing or treating" both conditions, the
researchers said.
The research group also confirmed that increased levels of an enzyme
called SIRT1, which earlier studies had linked to longevity, DNA
repair, and insulin secretion, improve insulin sensitivity in mice.
Resveratrol is known to activate the SIRT1 enzyme.
The results suggest that "red wine might have some benefits for
insulin sensitivity, but it needs to be confirmed by further
investigation," said Qiwei Zhai of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Given the potential complications of drinking alcohol, "an even better
option may be to find other natural foods enriched with resveratrol or
foods supplemented with resveratrol," he added, noting that the
chemical is also an active ingredient in other plants, including one
called Polygonum cuspidatum used in traditional Chinese and Japanese
medicine.
Diabetes mellitus, the most common endocrine disorder, currently
affects more than 170 million people worldwide and is expected to
affect more than 353 million by the year 2030, Zhai said. Type 2
diabetes, which accounts for more than 90 percent of diabetes cases,
is characterized by the resistance of body tissues to stimulation by
the peptide hormone insulin. Insulin normally lowers blood glucose
levels by facilitating the sugar's uptake, mainly into skeletal muscle
and fat tissue, and by inhibiting glucose production in the liver.
Currently, alleviating insulin resistance is still one of the key
avenues to treating type 2 diabetes.
Earlier studies had reported a connection between SIRT1 and the
processes of glucose metabolism and insulin secretion. However,
whether SIRT1 was directly involved in insulin sensitivity remained
largely unknown, the researchers said.
Now, the researchers report that SIRT1 levels are reduced in insulin-
resistant cells and tissues and that treatments that block the
enzyme's function lead to insulin resistance. Furthermore, increased
SIRT1 activity improved insulin sensitivity. Similarly, resveratrol-at
a dose of just 2.5 mg/kg/day-enhanced insulin sensitivity in cells.
That low dose of resveratrol also reduced insulin resistance in
animals fed a high-fat diet, the researchers showed.
"We found SIRT1 improves insulin sensitivity, especially under insulin-
resistant conditions," Zhai said. "Furthermore, we found that
resveratrol, at a very low dose compared with many previous studies,
improves insulin sensitivity via SIRT1."
The findings suggest that those who drink red wine for the health-
promoting benefits of resveratrol might "think about drinking less,"
Zhai said. Previously, he noted, the effects of resveratrol seen in
mice had implied that humans might need to drink about 120 liters of
red wine each day to get enough resveratrol to enjoy the same benefit.
"According to our findings, people might need to drink about three
liters of red wine each day to get sufficient resveratrol-about 15 mg-
for its biological effects."
###
The researchers include Cheng Sun, Fang Zhang, Xinjian Ge, Tingting
Yan, Xingmiao Chen, Xianglin Shi, and Qiwei Zhai of Institute for
Nutritional Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences in Shanghai.
This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (30400083 and 30570558), the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (KSCX2-2-25, KSCX2-YW-N-034, and KSCX1-YW-02), the National
Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2006CB503900 and
2007CB914501), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai
Municipality (04 DZ14007), and the Program of Shanghai Subject Chief
Scientist.
Sun et al.: "SIRT1 Improves Insulin Sensitivity under Insulin-
Resistant Conditions by Repressing PTP1B." Publishing in Cell
Metabolism 6, 307-319, October 2007. DOI 10.1016/j.cmet.2007.08.014
www.cellmetabolism.org
Public release date: 2-Oct-2007
Contact: Nancy Wampler
nwampler@cell.com
617-386-2121
---------------------------------------------------------------
Polyphenols are non-vitamin antioxidants common in the diet and
particularly abundant in teas, juices and wines. Most polyphenols
exist primarily in the skins and peels of fruits and vegetables.
Recent studies have shown that polyphenols (like resveratrol in wine)
extend maximum lifespan by 59 percent and delay age-dependent decay of
cognitive performance in animal models.
VM-MELISSA MARINO
F A L L 2 0 0 6
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Component of red wine quells inflammation in chronic inflammatory lung
disease (COPD)
October 24, 2003 - A component of red wine, resveratrol, seems to
damp down the inflammatory process in the progressive lung disease
COPD, finds a small study in Thorax.
So effective was resveratrol in laboratory tests that the authors
suggest that the compound could be developed to treat the disease.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is irreversible and
progressive. The lungs deteriorate, making it difficult, and
eventually impossible, to breathe. Treatment is at best palliative.
Smoking is the chief culprit.
The cells involved in the inflammatory process in COPD include
macrophages. These cells produce powerful chemicals, such as
interleukins, which stimulate the growth and activity of various other
immune system cells. They also produce chemicals to prolong cell life,
such as GM-CSF, and they generate free radicals in the process.
The researchers isolated macrophages from the lung fluid samples of 15
smokers and 15 patients with COPD, and ran two experiments. In one,
the macrophages were artificially spurred into action by an
interleukin or cigarette smoke; resveratrol was then added to the mix.
In the other, resveratrol was added in the absence of artificial
stimulation.
In the unstimulated samples, resveratrol almost completely eliminated
the production of interleukin 8 by 94% in smokers' macrophages and by
88% in COPD macrophages. The production of interleukin 8 was around
five times as great in patients with COPD as it was in smokers.
Resveratrol also cut the release of GM-CSF by 79% in smokers' samples
and by 76% in COPD cells.
In the stimulated samples, the compound more than halved the amount of
interleukin produced and almost halved the amount of cell life
enhancer.
Resveratrol is a polyphenol antioxidant found in the skins of red
fruits, such as grapes, and has been credited with the much touted
beneficial effects of red wine.
The authors conclude that resveratrol or related compounds may be more
effective than corticosteroids for treating COPD. The issue remains as
to how much of the resveratrol would reach the lung tissues, they say,
but suggest that analogues would take care of this problem.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
------------------------------------------------
Seeing how much problem there is with infection in people with
diabetes and how iron has been shown to feed infection .. the
resveratrol might be **doubley** indicated .. ?
--------------------------------------------------
A Grab for Iron - Breakthrough for Innsbruck Scientists
October 25, 2004 - Nearly all organisms need iron to survive, even
mould. For people with a weakened immune system such fungi pose a
deadly threat. Scientists from Innsbruck (Austria) have now been able
to genetically block the iron metabolism of Aspergillus fumigatus
mould and thus render it harmless to humans. This discovery opens up
completely new paths for developing drugs against fungal infections.
The Aspergillus fumigatus mould is commonly found in compost, green
bins, potting compost and on wallpaper. For people with a weakened
immune system it can become dangerous, attacking organs like lung,
stomach, intestine and the nervous system. Because it is difficult to
diagnose and treat, such a mould infection (aspergillosis) becomes
life-threatening for patients whose immune system has been affected by
chemotherapy, HIV infection or an organ transplant. Bacteria can be
overcome quite effectively with antibiotics, but there are as yet
hardly any effective drugs against mould, which accounts for the fact
that 80 percent of affected patients do not survive such an infection.
Fighting mould
Now, for the first time, a working group headed by Hubertus Haas and
Markus Schrettl of the Department for Molecular Biology of Innsbruck
Medical University has managed to genetically block the iron
metabolism of the mould. In a recent article in the acclaimed
scientific Journal of Experimental Medicine they proved that the
siderophore system is essential for the virulence of Aspergillus
fumigatus. The mould uses the so-called siderophores for the reception
of vital iron.
These low-molecular-weight peptides can bind iron and are sent out by
the cells to absorb iron as well as being used inside the cell to
store it. If this siderophore system is systematically disrupted, the
fungus loses its essential iron supply and dies. In animal modelling
this has been proven successfully. Being able to understand this
mechanism offers very promising perspectives for the development of
new therapies against fungal infections. Of particular advantage is
the fact that humans do not have a comparable system, which bodes well
for potential inhibitors having few side-effects.
"Gaining detailed insights into the siderophore metabolism enables us
to investigate the system as a potential handle for combating
aspergillosis and other fungal infections," Hubertus Haas explained
the impact of this breakthrough. "So far we have been able to identify
at least 30 genes with gene products involved in this system. At the
moment we are carrying out microarray-profiling, which should uncover
additional factors," Haas continued.
Basic research and application potential
The working group from Innsbruck has been exploring the iron
metabolism of mould since 1998, supported by research funds from the
Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) and the Austrian National Bank (Ã-
NB). As the new approaches for antifungal therapies show, there is a
wealth of application potential in such basic molecular-biology
research into identifying and characterizing the siderophore system. A
novel screening process for antifungal substances - for which a patent
is pending - recently won the Life Science Business Award of the
Center for Academic Spin-offs Tyrol (CAST).
Innsbruck, Medizinische Universitaet
--------------------------------------------------------------
Resveratrol Protects Against Fungus and Yeast - Breaking News
Name: Resveratrol Protects Against Fungus and Yeast - Breaking News
Dated: 1/27/2003
A new study indicates that trans-resveratrol, an antioxidant component
of red wine thought to confer the beverage's heart healthy effects,
makes fruit stay fresher longer.
Previous studies have shown that resveratrol kills fungi on fruit and
that it can fight diseases caused by yeasts and molds.
In this study, researchers set out to determine whether trans-
resveratrol's antioxidant properties could keep fruit fresher longer.
They found that coating the fruit with resveratrol protected it from
Botrytis cinerea, a common fungus. Dipping the fruit in resveratrol
extended the shelf life of apples from two weeks to three months. The
shelf life of grapes doubled after resveratrol treatment.
This study confirms that resveratrol has uses beyond protection from
heart disease.
Reference:
Gonzalez Urena A, Orea JM, Montero C, Jimenez JB, Gonzalez JL, Sanchez
A, Dorado M. Improving Postharvest Resistance in Fruits by External
Application of trans-Resveratrol. J Agric Food Chem. 2003 Jan 1;51(1):
82-9.
Who loves ya.
Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian!
http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com
Man Is A Herbivore!
http://tinyurl.com/a3cc3
DEAD PEOPLE WALKING
http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk
Resveratrol versus Corticosteroids 
Linear Mode
