NY Times Article Updates Srtris Pharama Progress

Interesting update covering a conference on aging at Harvard university. Click here:

New Poll on Resveratrol Usage

Back in February 2008, the SI blog ran a poll on resveratrol usage. The results were as follows:

• I don't take any --- 19%
• Up to 100 mg ----- 11%
• Up to 200 mg ----- 20%
• Up to 1,000 mg --- 26%
• Over 1,000 mg ---- 22%

Given the volume of research that has become available in the last 6 months, a new poll is now being taken to examine how usage has evolved. To participate see box at the right.

Resveratrol: Fat Buster?

In a study by Martin Wabitsch, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Ulm in Germany, evidence was presented that furthers the belief that resveratrol may act as a catalyst to reduce the body's production of fat cells. This latest study was performed on human cells in a laboratory test and showed how resveratrol inhibits the number of nascent fat cells that grow into mature fat cells. If fats and carbohydrates from food cannot be transformed into fat cells, they are typically broken down and burned as energy instead. If these lab tests are an accurate indication of the actual process that takes place in the human body, it would limit the addition of fatty tissue. You know, that little (or big) spare tire you carry around your waist that you can't get rid of? This research advances evidence that explains the notion of the "French Paradox". Although the French diet tends to be high in fatty food, the overall population has a much lower obesity rate than other developed countries. Many have hypothesized that high French consumption of red wine is offsetting the high fat content. Only in the last few years has resveratrol been identified as the actual molecule in red wine that makes this happen.

For more detailed coverage of this study refer to these articles in Science News and CBS News.

Home Garden Resveratrol Experiment

The recent announcement by Sirtris regarding its licensing agreement with Bayer Life Sciences got me thinking about my tomato garden. Every spring, I plant six tomato plants and by July the plants bear fruit. There is nothing like the taste of home grown tomatoes. If you've ever grown tomatoes you've probably observed that, in some years, the leaves on the plant may discolor, from the bottom up, and eventually fall off. If it gets really bad the entire plant can die off. The fruit is typically not effected in mild cases but tomato yields may suffer. This is usually caused by a plant fungus that often hits tomato plants called septoria.

I plan on performing my own personal experiment in this year's crop. When I plant my tomato plants this year, I plan on sprinkling 100mg of resveratrol onto the soil surrounding the eventual root spread of 3 out of the 6 tomato plants. Since, resveratrol is a phytoalexin produced naturally by several plants when under attack by bacteria or fungi, it will be interesting to see whether providing resveratrol directly to the roots will have any effect. I'll be reporting on the results as the plants grow. If any SI readers wish to perform the same experiment we can compare notes.

Most Sirtuin Investor Readers Using Resveratrol

The SI Blog Resvertrol Usage Poll is has closed. Not suprisingly 80% of those polled are taking resveratrol. Almost 1/2 of those polled are taking in excess of 200mg per day. Here are the final results:

I don't take any --- 19%
Up to 100 mg ----- 11%
Up to 200 mg ---- 20%
Up to 1,000 mg -- 26%
Over 1,000 mg --- 22%

Given that Sirtris dosed at 5,000 mg and 2,500 mg in its recent Type 2 Diabetes clinical trial without any significant adverse effects it does not seem surprising that those somewhat knowledgable about sirtuins are taking rather high doses.

New Poll on Resveratrol Usage

Many of those who are interested in sirtuins and the possibility of investment opportunities in the same are also likely to be interested in the potential health benefits of taking resveratrol, an activator of sirtuins. The Sirtuin Investor Blog has set up a new poll to find whether readers are taking resveratrol and, if so, how much. The results should be interesting.

The Genesis of the Age of Life Extention

In November 2006, to much worldwide press excitement, researchers released a report that showed how a component in grape skin, called resveratrol, significantly extended the lives of mice raised on a high fat diet. The biological mechanism that achieved these results in mice is both fascinating and exciting. It could hold the key to the body's ability to control, or at least, significantly slow down the aging process. Without getting into the hard core science of this new discovery I provide here a brief outline of the current understanding of this mechanism that may have brought us to the Genesis of the Age of Life Extention:

1) It has long been known that a diet that dramatically restricts calorie input by 30% to 40% has tremendous health benefits (but who wants to be hungry and scrawny??). This is referred to as the Calorie Restriction Diet ("CRD"). http://nymag.com/news/features/23169/ Lab animals and even some humans who have tried the CRD do not suffer from age related diseases such as diabetes and cancer for example.

2) Recent research has found that normally inactive enzymes in most living cells called sirtuins are activated when a cell is subject to a CRD. When a cell is getting normal nutrition sirtuins remain inactive. This defense mechanism is believed to be a surviving trait of the evolutionary process that would help protect an organism from long periods where nutrition is scarce.http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2003/January/030104.htm

3) When activated, a certain sirtuin has been shown to reduce glucose production levels and slow the aging process in mice. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070815154329.htm

4) High levels of resveratrol, a compound found in many fruits especially in red grape skin, have been shown to activate sirtuin enzymes in the body. http://www.drpressman.com/Library/Resveratrol.htm

5) A little company called Sirtris Pharmacueticals is the leader in sirtuin research and has numerous patents to show for it. SIRTRIS already has a proprietary stable formula of resveratrol in clinical trials to treat Type 2 diabetes. It has also developed a non-resveratrol based small molecule that is 1000 times more potent than its resveratrol based product. http://www.sirtrispharma.com/Science/Technology/tabid/3732/Default.aspx

I will be following this company through this blog as The Sirtuin Investor as I am fascinated by long term implications of sirtuins and the potential to earn substantial returns investing in them. Live longer requires having extra money, so pairing the two goals on this blog are the perfect complements.