Forever young at heart, the power of resveratrol

 Taking into account the beneficial effects of RES on hypertension, obesity, inflammation, diabetes and dyslipidemia, RES could constitute an interesting pharmacological approach for the treatment of metabolic syndrome, which is associated with an increased risk of CVD development. Nevertheless, among the points to discuss for the interpretation of preclinical and clinical studies, not only the poor bioavailability and the dose of RES are critical, but also the length of RES treatment and the best time for initiating it (most studies showed effectiveness of RES when it was administered for short periods and as a pretreatment) [67]. Larger controlled human clinical trials are thus needed to investigate these points and to study the effects of long-term RES supplementation. Resveratrol and Cardiovascular Diseases (nih.gov)

In mice resveratrol has lengthened lifespan of obese mice abolishing practically abolishing lifespan negative effects of obesity, it has also lengthened lifespan of aging accelerated mice, of mice with mitochondrial defects, of normal aging but short lived strains of mice, of yeast, of short lived fish, and of a few other species.

It is able to elicit antiaging effects in multiple organs but most strongly in the heart, where iirc, it induces hundreds of gene expression changes opposed to aging and akin to calorie restriction(calorie restriction being one of the strongest youth resilience and health promoting antiaging interventions known.), this has already been shown in animals

Resveratrol presents a therapeutic agent with a novel mechanism of action that appears to benefit a variety of conditions related to CVD and HF. Ongoing studies will test the hypothesis that the addition of resveratrol in meaningful doses can help patients with CVD and/or HF. The Effects of Resveratrol in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease and Heart Failure: A Narrative Review (nih.gov)

Animal gene expression research

 Surprisingly, resveratrol opposed 947 (92%) of age-related changes in gene expression, and 522 of these represented highly significant differences in expression between the old control and old resveratrol groups (P≤0.01). Thus, resveratrol at doses that can be readily achieved through dietary supplementation in humans is as effective as CR in opposing the majority of age-related transcriptional alterations in the aging heart. Because the collection of such alterations in gene expression is a biomarker of aging, our results imply that similar to CR, middle-age onset resveratrol supplementation at low doses is likely a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac aging. A Low Dose of Dietary Resveratrol Partially Mimics Caloric Restriction and Retards Aging Parameters in Mice (nih.gov)

Resveratrol news 2014 december

For the new study, Sajish and Schimmel put TyrRS(tRNA synthetase called TyrRS) and resveratrol together and showed with tests including X-ray crystallography that resveratrol does indeed mimic tyrosine, well enough to fit tightly into TyrRS's tyrosine binding pocket. That binding to resveratrol, the team found, takes TyrRS away from its protein translation role and steers it to a function in the cell nucleus.

Tracking the resveratrol-bound TyrRS in the nucleus, the researchers determined that it grabs and activates the protein, PARP-1, a major stress response and DNA-repair factor thought to have a significance influence on lifespan. The scientists confirmed the interaction in mice injected with resveratrol. TyrRS's activation of PARP-1 led, in turn, to the activation of a host of protective genes including the tumor-suppressor gene p53 and the longevity genes FOXO3A and SIRT6.-machineslikeus link

 It seems that in addition to the previously known sirtuin 1 activity, resveratrol also activates other stress response mechanisms through TyrRS including SIRT6 and FOXO3A.    So resveratrol appears to be acting through more than one pathway and it also seems to activate some of these mechanisms at lower doses according to the linked article

Researchers from Harvard Medical School just announced that resveratrol, a polyphenolic compound found in red wine, duplicates the life-extending benefits of caloric restriction in a yeast model. In a paper published in the August 24 online edition of the journal, Nature, they report that resveratrol was shown to extend the lifespan of yeast by up to 80 percent.-link

A review of the original investigations into resveratrol.