The new study echoes results published earlier in Nature with resveratrol, the chemical in red wine that led to much discussion about the "French paradox," the seeming ability of French people to eat high-calorie meals, with a glass of red wine, and remain thin. (To get the levels in the study, a person would have to drink dozens of bottles a day.) SRT1720 is about 1,000 times more powerful that resveratrol, say the researchers. The two chemicals are not related structurally, but both influence the same chemical pathway in the body -- in particular, a type of receptor called SIRT1. SRT1720 is more powerful than resveratrol because the body doesn't break the drug apart as quickly as it does resveratrol, making it more efficient at binding to the receptors. The SIRT1 receptor is also activated during caloric restriction diets, which have been shown to lengthen life span in multiple animal models, and during exercise. SIRT1 receptors are found in mitochondria, often called the powerhouse of the cell because of all the energy they produce. Cells start out with lots of mitochondria. As the body ages, the mitochondria start to die off or fail. While more research is needed to prove the connections, mitochondria are suspected to contribute to age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's. Sirtris hopes SRT1720 will eventually be approved to treat these age-related diseases as well. SRT1720 would be used as a therapeutic drug, not a preventative measure. "The FDA doesn't have a clear approval path for disease prevention," said Dipp. "It does have paths for treating disease, however, and that's what we are going after." Rafael de Cabo, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health who studies SRT1720's life-extending effects on mice but was not involved in the European study, says that the results are "fantastic and well done." Still, he urges patience; mice are very different creatures than humans, and more research needs to be done before SRT1720 or its weaker counterpart, resveratrol, are taken by humans. "I always get the same question [about resveratrol]; how much should I take?" said de Cabo. "I don't take it, and until we have more data, I don't think other people should take it either." Related Links: |
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