New Clues Hint that Red Wine May Slow Heart Aging

The answer to the so-called "French paradox” may be found in red wine. More specifically, it may exist in small doses of resveratrol, a natural component of grapes, pomegranates, red wine, and other foods, according to new research.

A study published in the June 3, 2008 online, open-access journal Public Library of Science (PloS) One, researchers from University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW; USA) reported that low doses of resveratrol in the diet of middle-aged mice has an extensive influence on the genetic switches of aging and may confer special protection on the heart.

Specifically, the researchers discovered that low doses of resveratrol mimic the effects of what is known as caloric restriction--diets with 20-30% fewer calories than a typical diet--that in many studies has been shown to extend lifespan and blunt the effects of aging. "This brings down the dose of resveratrol toward the consumption reality mode,” said senior author Dr. Richard Weindruch, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of medicine. "At the same time, it plugs into the biology of caloric restriction.”

Earlier studies had shown that resveratrol in high doses extends lifespan in invertebrates and prevents early mortality in mice given a high-fat diet. The new study, conducted by researchers from academia and industry, extends those findings, demonstrating that resveratrol in low doses and beginning in middle age can elicit many of the same benefits as a reduced-calorie diet.

"Resveratrol is active in much lower doses than previously thought and mimics a significant fraction of the profile of caloric restriction at the gene expression level,” said Dr. Tomas Prolla, a UW-Madison professor of genetics and a senior author of the new report.

The researchers examined the influence of the agent on heart, muscle, and brain by looking for alterations in gene expression in those tissues. As animals age, gene expression in the different tissues of the body changes as genes are switched on and off.

In the new study, which compared the genetic crosstalk of animals on a restricted diet with those fed small doses of resveratrol, the similarities were remarkable, according to lead author Jamie Barger LifeGen Technologies (Madison, WI, USA). In the heart, for example, there are at least 1,029 genes whose functions change with age, and the organ's function is known to decline with age. In animals on a restricted diet, 90% of those heart genes experienced altered gene expression profiles, while low doses of resveratrol suppressed age-related change in 92%. The new findings, according to the study's investigators, were associated with prevention of the decline in heart function associated with aging. Meaning, a glass of wine or food or supplements that contain even small doses of resveratrol are likely to represent "a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac aging,” the authors noted.

This finding may also provide clues into the remarkable heart health of individuals who live in some regions of France where diets are soaked in saturated fats but the incidence of heart disease, a major cause of mortality in the United States, is low. In France, meals are traditionally complemented with a glass of red wine.

The new resveratrol study is also important because it suggests that caloric restriction, which has been widely studied in animals from spiders to humans, and resveratrol may govern the same master genetic pathways related to aging. "There must be a few master biochemical pathways activated in response to caloric restriction, which in turn activate many other pathways,” explained Dr. Prolla. "And resveratrol seems to activate some of these master pathways as well.”

The study‘s results, according to the UW investigators, provide strong evidence that resveratrol can improve quality of life through its influence on the different parameters of aging such as cardiac function. However, whether the agent can extend lifespan in ways similar to caloric restriction will require additional study, according to the investigators.


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University of Wisconsin
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