Aging & Resveratrol & Metabolic Tuning & Methionine Baste on 30 Mar 2008 06:00 am

Resveratrol Analog Acts as a Metabolic Tuner

Source: BMC Medical Genomics (Open Access, 20 March 2008)
Article Type: Original Research
Authors: Pan Z et al.

Pterostilbene, a dimethylether analog of resveratrol, has long been known for its antioxidant, antifungal and antiinflammatory activities (to mention just a few). However, little is known on its mechanism(s) of action. In the present study, Pan et al. incubated S. cerevisiae (a common model organism for the identification of therapeutic compounds) with 70 µM (= IC50) pterostilbene prior running extensive transcript profiling experiments.
In a nutshell, pterostilbene affected the expression of >1000 genes (up: 1007; down: 182).

We have identified the molecular pathways affected by pterostilbene, and our results show that pterostilbene affects the expression of a diverse group of genes in yeast cells.Using Gene Ontology-based analysis, the most significant effects were observed in genes involved in methionine metabolism, response to drug, transcription factor activity, and mitochondrion functions. Additional analyses indicated that many genes involved in lipid metabolism were also affected. The observed response of lipid metabolism genes is in agreement with the known hypolipidemic properties of pterostilbene mediated through the activation of PPARalpha. The induction of a large number of mitochondrial genes by pterostilbene is consistent with its previously-demonstrated role in apoptosis in human cancer cells.Our data also show that pterostilbene has a significant effect on methionine metabolism, perhaps resulting in the depletion of methionine by the inhibition of methionine biosynthesis. The effect of pterostilbene on methionine metabolism has not been previously observed and merits further investigation.”

The effects on methionine might be of particular interest, as methionine metabolism has also been linked to aging.
Does this possibly mean that resveratrol and its analogs enhance, e.g. C. elegans, lifespan by modulating methionine levels? PubMed, at least, does not provide a sufficient answer….

2 Responses to “Resveratrol Analog Acts as a Metabolic Tuner”

  1. on 30 Mar 2008 at 7:11 pm 1.Jeff Bergman said …

    This ingredient, resveratrol, is possible to obtain via supplements
    at dosages that equal the Dr. Sinclair Harvard study in which mice
    lived 31% longer. In November of last year Consumer Lab, the leading
    independent test organisation for supplements and over-the-counter
    drugs tested the leading resveratrol brands. They reported that not
    all products contained the amount of resveratrol claimed on their
    labels and web sites. Life Extension brand, for example contained
    less than 27% of the claimed resveratrol.Conversely, Biotivia
    Bioforte was rated as the best value per 100mg and second highest
    potency product and Biotivia Transmax was the highest potency
    supplement of those passing the evaluations. Be sure that you are
    getting what you are paying for if you decide to use this so called
    miracle molecule. Many supplement makers chose not to participate in
    the ConsumerLab evaluations.

  2. on 02 Apr 2008 at 3:14 pm 2.Resveratrol Price Watch said …

    Barbara Walters interviewed Dr. Sinclair last night. He mentioned you would need to drink 1000 bottles of red wine a day to get enough resveratrol.

    Why not try the price watch?

    http://www.resveratrolpricewatch.com

    The list is compiled by the bulic, for the public. You can add a product as well if it is not found here.

    A

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