In November 2006, Sirtris scientists and Sirtris co-founder, Prof. David Sinclair from Harvard Medical School, published consecutive papers in the journals Cell and Nature showing that resveratrol, a SIRT1 activator found in red wine, could reduce the impact of a high fat diet, increase stamina two fold and significantly extend lifespan of mice. Unfortunately, it was estimated that a person would need to drink 1000 bottles of red wine to obtain an equivalent dose of resveratrol. Now, scientists at Sirtris have developed SIRT1 activating molecules that are chemically distinct from resveratrol and are 1000 times more potent.
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You can just imagine the social implications of a drug that doubled stamina in athletes and allowed people to live a lot longer, as well as reversing many diseases of aging. How much would it sell for? Under what conditions could doctors prescribe it? Would it be banned for athletes? -- and if everyone else was taking it, would that mean athletes wouldn't get to live as long? Would this company's patent hold up world-wide? Would the social security retirement age have to change dramatically (of course)? Would the increase in stamina apply to mental functions as well as athletic (probably). On a national level, imagine the advantage a nation of poeple with greater stamina and longevity, and less disabling disease, would have relative to other nations. Basically, competition at every level would virtually force everyone to take it. Proving that you take it would lower your life and health insurance premiums. Of course, the quest would quickly be on to find more of the same. And of course, larger doses of old fashioned resveratrol may work just as well. Even now, some companies are selling 500mg pills that are equivalent to maybe 200 bottles of wine (depending on the wine, which is a poor yard stick, but there might be a couple milligrams per red wine bottle.).
The November, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published an article describing the discovery of British and American researchers of an association between longer telomeres and increased levels of vitamin D. Telomeres are caps on the ends of chromosomes which have been found to shorten with age, as well as with increased oxidative stress and inflammation. The finding suggests that vitamin D may play a role in slowing the onset of age-related diseases.
Dr J. Brent Richards at King's College, London School of Medicine and colleagues studied 2,160 female twins aged 19 to 79 for the current research. Blood samples were analyzed for serum vitamin D levels, C-reactive protein (CRP, a marker of inflammation) and additional factors, and telomere length was measured in the DNA of peripheral white blood cells (leukocytes).
As expected, older participants had shorter telomeres; however, leukocyte telomere length (LTL) was greater among subjects whose levels of vitamin D were high compared to those with low concentrations, a finding which persisted after adjustment for age and other factors. Participants in the top one-third of serum vitamin D levels had telomeres that averaged 107 base pairs longer than those in the lowest third, equivalent to a five year difference in chronologic aging.
Telomere length was also greater in those with lower C-reactive protein levels than in subjects with higher concentrations. When participants who had the highest CRP and lowest vitamin D concentrations were compared with those who had the lowest CRP and highest vitamin D levels, the difference in telomere length was equivalent to 7.6 years of aging.
In a subset analysis of vitamin D supplement users, those who supplemented were also found to have longer telomeres than those who did not supplement with the vitamin.
In their discussion concerning mechanisms of action, the authors note that inflammation and oxidative stress are key determinants in the biology of aging, and that vitamin D decreases mediators of systemic inflammation such as interleukin-2 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. While habits that increase oxidative stress and inflammation may be difficult to change, they observe that “vitamin D concentrations are easily modifiable through nutritional supplementation or sunshine exposure.”
“Although both LTL and serum vitamin D concentrations decrease with age and are thus possible markers of aging in general, we have shown that the positive association between LTL and vitamin D concentrations is independent of age and many other covariates,” the authors conclude. “Longitudinal studies or randomized controlled trials of supplementation exploring the effect of vitamin D on LTL will be necessary to unequivocally establish the relation between vitamin D and leukocyte telomere dynamics; but for the moment, our data suggest another potential benefit of vitamin D—on the aging process and age-related disease.”