In [1] mice fed a standard diet, high-calorie diet or high-calorie diet plus resveratrol. The study found that resveratrol helps mice on a high-calorie diet have similar health benefits to mice on a regular diet. This includes better lifespan, movement, insulin response, organ health, and improved mitochondrial function. Importantly, these benefits happened without the mice losing weight.
- ↑ Baur JA et al.: Resveratrol improves health and survival of mice on a high-calorie diet.
Nature
2006. (PMID 17086191)
[PubMed]
[DOI]
[Full text]
Abstract
Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene) extends the lifespan of diverse species including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. In these organisms, lifespan extension is dependent on Sir2, a conserved deacetylase proposed to underlie the beneficial effects of caloric restriction. Here we show that resveratrol shifts the physiology of middle-aged mice on a high-calorie diet towards that of mice on a standard diet and significantly increases their survival. Resveratrol produces changes associated with longer lifespan, including increased insulin sensitivity, reduced insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I) levels, increased AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1alpha (PGC-1alpha) activity, increased mitochondrial number, and improved motor function. Parametric analysis of gene set enrichment revealed that resveratrol opposed the effects of the high-calorie diet in 144 out of 153 significantly altered pathways. These data show that improving general health in mammals using small molecules is an attainable goal, and point to new approaches for treating obesity-related disorders and diseases of ageing.
