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This
research, which is the continuation of another one published
in Nature in 2006, is a collaborative study between the laboratories
of Rafael de Cabo, of the Laboratory
of Experimental Gerontology at the NIA, and David Sinclair,
of the Glenn Laboratories for Molecular Biology
of Aging at Harvard Medical School; and an
international group of researchers from other 14 centers,
among which we find Plácido Navas, biologist, Ph.D.,
of the Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo
(Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology), in
Seville.
The findings were published on July 3rd in the digital edition
of Cell Metabolism
magazine. In the studies different groups of mice were studied:
some were fed a standard diet (control group), others a high-calorie
diet, and others a restricted feeding regimen, with or without
high- or low-dose Resveratrol. The study
begun when mice were 12 months old -an approximate equivalent
of 30 human years - and ended when they died, at about 36
months old.
According to investigators, this work’s most important
findings represent the ratification that this substance prevents
age-related and obesity-related cardiovascular functional
decline. The total cholesterol in non-obese mice lowered,
and, both in obese and non-obese Resveratrol treated groups,
the function of their aortas improved, as compared to untreated
mice.
Other positive effects of this study reveal that treated mice
tended to have better bone health than the non-treated control
group, they improved balance and motor coordination and were
also found to have reduced cataract formation.
"We don’t know why exactly this substance reduces
cholesterol levels in thin mice but not in obese mice, but
every moment we find more evidences that Resveratrol is involved
in the metabolic control and especially in the fat metabolism,”
highlights Rafael de Cabo.
As for the mimetic effects associated to age in the low calories
diet, researchers studied the effects of Resveratrol in four
tissues: liver, muscles, fat tissue and the heart. “Resveratrol
improves the health of the tissues of each of the organs.
Specifically, in the case of the aorta artery, a blood vessel
that looses elasticity due to the fat deposit and the passing
of time, it keeps its flexibility longer,” explains
Navas.
Other recent studies ascertain part of the results of this
work. One is published in the same edition of Cell
Metabolism, another one in Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, and another one
in PLoS One.
July 8th, 2008
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