ODENSE, Denmark & MANHASSET, N.Y.--Two separate, recently published studies revealed resveratrol, a polyphenol found most notably in grapes and red wine, can help thwart bone marrow cancer myeloma, as well as degrade certain peptides crucial to development of plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Published in the Nov. 1 issue of Cancer Research (65:9943-52, 2005), the first study investigated the effects of resveratrol on multiple myeloma--accumulations of malignant plasma cells in bone marrow--as well as on osteoblasts (bone makers) and osteoclasts (bone destroyers), which determine the bone environment that factors in the survival of malignancy. The Dutch researchers found resveratrol (trans-3,4’,5-trihydroxystilbene) dose-dependently reduced the growth of myeloma cell lines (RPMI 8226 and OPM-2) via a cell apoptosis mechanism. Their in vitro study of resveratrol on human monocytes further showed inhibition of bone resorption by osteoclasts, while promoting expression of osteoblast markers, such as osteocalcin and osteopontin, in human bone marrow stem cells. They concluded resveratrol has potential to help treat multiple myeloma.
The second study, published in the Nov. 11 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (45:37377-82, 2005), investigated the mechanisms behind red wine’s epidemiological association with decreased incidence of Alzheimer’s. Scientists from the Litwin-Zucker Research Center for the Study of Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders found resveratrol markedly lowered levels of secreted and intracellular beta-amyloid peptides, which can form amyloid oligmers and disrupt neuronal function. However, they further discovered resveratrol did not inhibit production of these dangerous peptides, but instead promoted intracellular degradation of the peptides via a mechanism involving proteasome--a large protein complex that can degrade other proteins. The researchers concluded resveratrol has a proteasome-dependent, anti-amyloidogenic mechanism of action that indicates therapeutic potential in Alzheimer's disease.
