A new study highlights the prospective benefits of using resveratrol, an element in red wine, for the treatment of diabetes. Resveratrol has been in the scientific spotlight for several years now as researchers examine its therapeutic potential for longevity and a long lineup of ailments.
Scientists have been fascinated by resveratrol's activation of sirtuins, proteins the body relies on to survive a famine. Activating sirtuins has increased the life span of rodents, and researchers at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals have been developing an artificial, highly concentrated version of resveratrol that it believes can do the same for man without denying the body food.
In this new study, scientists set out to see if resveratrol, when delivered directly to the brain, could control diabetes by improving levels of blood sugar and insulin.
"We know that sirtuins are expressed in parts of the brain known to govern glucose metabolism, so we hypothesized that the brain could be mediating resveratrol's anti-diabetic actions," said Roberto Coppari, PhD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and co-author of the study. "To test the hypothesis, we assessed the metabolic consequences of delivering resveratrol directly into the brain of diabetic mice. We found that resveratrol did activate sirtuins in the brain of these mice which resulted in improving their high levels of blood sugar and insulin."
- check out the press release