Can Wine's Resveratrol Slow Huntington's Disease Via SIRT1 Gene?
Print
Email
(Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Johns Hopkins researchers discovered the SIRT1 gene has a strong positive effect on Huntington's disease.
In genetically engineered mice, SIRT1 appeared to have a dramatic effect in:
- delaying the onset of Huntington's disease
- slowing the progression of Huntington's disease
SIRT1 has been linked to slowing the aging process in cells for a number of years.
How is SIRT1 Activated?
Some studies indicates resveratrol activates Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)[w104] .
Resveratrol is an easily-available nutritional supplement derived primarily from Japanese knotweed. It is found in the skin of red grapes and in other fruits. CBS took an in-depth look at resveratrol's ability to activate SIRT1. Click the following link to watch it:
60 Minutes Explores Remarkable Benefits of Red Wine's Resveratrol
How Does SIRT1 Help Huntington's?
Johns Hopkins researchers studied two models of Huntington's mice. They measured the enzyme whose blueprint is carried by the SIRT1 gene. A startling observation was that the mice with above-normal amounts of the enzyme had improved motor function and reduced brain atrophy. Other studies have suggested SIRT1 has anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties that scientists are only beginning to understand.
Wenzhen Duan, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. A report on the findings by Duan and her international team will be published online in Nature Medicine. She said,
“Our research opens new avenues in the fight against HD, suggesting that if we target SIRT1, we may be able to find drugs that offer help to patients for whom we currently have really nothing that works.”
Duan and her colleagues have already completed research into calorie restriction in Huntington's. In that previous work with HD mice, they found that reducing calories by about 30% through alternate day feeding slowed the progression of Huntington's as well as extended lifespan. The results were attributed to SIRT1. In particular, SIRT1 activity reduced hyperglycemia and improved glucose tolerance while mitigating metabolic problems in the animals. That success of SIRT1 in improving the health of Huntington's mice led Duan to explore a connection between the enzyme and the mutation in the HD-causing huntingtin gene (HTT). That mutation is responsible for the abnormal, toxic version of the huntingtin protein.
HTT is expressed all over the body. However, the harm it causes is mostly in the movement center of the brain. It acts most aggressively on the medium spiny neurons. Dr. Duan's team observed SIRT1 preserving the medium spiny neurons. Furthermore, extra SIRT1 seems to prevent a decline in levels of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). In Huntington's, BDNF levels tend to be low and it is essential as nutrition for brain cells.
Other Benefits of Resveratrol in Huntington's
Huntington disease harms nerve cells in the brain. According to the Huntington's Outreach Project for Education at Stanford University (HOPES), resveratrol protected nerve cells against oxidative damage in Huntington's disease studies. It effectively delayed the onset of Huntington disease,
HOPES added that these earlier studies in Huntington's mice indicated that resveratrol offers neuroprotection by lowering inflammation, fighting oxidative stress and raising cellular energy metabolism.
An additional resveratrol hypothesis suggests it inhibits formation of protein aggregates that typically appear in Huntington Disease. This makes sense, as it would be consistent to resveratrol's observed action in Alzheimer's. There, it has an apparent inhibitory effect on the formation of damaging beta-amyloid plaques in the brain.[w34]
Related Videos & Articles
More Information
HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE
Click here for an in-depth look at Huntington's disease.
RESVERATROL
The effects of resveratrol are currently a topic of numerous animal and human studies. Research on resveratrol is in its infancy and the long-term effects of supplementation in humans are not known.[w5][w6]
Other research calls into question the theory connecting resveratrol, SIRT1, and calorie restriction.[w105][w106] In addition resveratrol's ability to directly activate sirtuin 1 has been called into question.[w106][w107][w108]
Notwithstanding, the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline is working hard on two resveratrol formulations and the science behind resveratrol is strong enough to have attracted a tremendous amount of time, money and resources in current research studies.
SIRT1 & HUNTINGTON'S
The research on SIRT1 and Huntington's in this articles was supported by the Hereditary Disease Foundation, CHDI, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute of Aging Intramural Research Program.
Other Johns Hopkins researchers involved in the study include Mali Jiang, M.D., Ph.D.; Jiawei Wang, M.D.; Jinrong Fu, Ph.D.; Lan Xiang, Ph.D.; Qi Peng; Zhipeng Hou; Nicolas Arbez, Ph.D.; Shanshan Zhu, Ph.D.; Katherine Sommers; Jennifer Qian; Jiangyang Zhang, Ph.D; Susumu Mori, Ph.D.; Kellie L.K. Tamashiro, Ph.D.; Susan Aja, Ph.D.; Timothy H. Moran, Ph.D.; and Christopher A. Ross, M.D., Ph.D.
For more information:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry/expert_team/faculty/D/Duan.html
Source:
LiveStrong.com:
.
