THE SECRET TO RESVERATROL UNLOCKED?
RESVERATROL has long been touted as a magic health elixir of sorts, but scientists and the medical community have long debated exactly how it works. Because red wine is particularly rich in resveratrol, some researchers have suggested that it could explain the “French paradox” of a relatively high-fat diet but comparatively low incidence of coronary heart disease within the wine-drinking population of France. Nevertheless, scientists have disputed whether the supposed effects of resveratrol on human health are real and, if so, how it could be so beneficial. But the mystery may have been solved. A recent study has found that resveratrol mimics another molecule found naturally in the body that is involved in activating an ancient chemical pathway to limit stress and damage to the DNA of cells – which would otherwise result in ageing and disease. “This stress response represents a layer of biology that has been largely overlooked, and resveratrol turns out to activate it at much lower concentrations than those used in prior studies,” said Professor Paul Schimmel of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, who led the study published in the journal NATURE.
The study found that resveratrol mimics a naturally occurring amino acid called tyrosine, which normally binds to one of a family of enzymes thought to have evolved many hundreds of millions of years ago when life existed as simple microbes. One of these enzymes, known as TyrRS, becomes activated when resveratrol binds to it. This causes the enzyme to move into the cell nucleus where it helps to protect the DNA of the chromosomes against genetic damage, the scientists suggested. They determined that when the TyrRS enzyme enters the cell nucleus it activates a host of protective genes including an anti-cancer gene called p53, which suppresses tumors, and the so-called “longevity” genes implicated in extending lifespans and combating age-related illnesses. Relatively small levels of resveratrol caused the response. These concentrations were about a thousand times lower than the doses previous studies suggested would produce an effect, said Matthew Sajish, co-author of the Scripps study. “Based on these results, it is conceivable that moderate consumption of a couple of glasses of red wine would give a person enough resveratrol to evoke a protective effect via this pathway,” he commented. The researchers suggest that the reason why resveratrol, a plant compound, can cause such a pronounced effect on animals is that it does much the same thing in plants. They suggested the TyrRS enzyme is part of an ancient defense system that predates the divergence of the animal and plant kingdoms.
