A Chemical May Help Cure Alzheimer’s Disease
Resveratrol, found in wine, actually in the grape skin, might help in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease The skin of the grape is a potential treatment for a variety of age related disorders, reported from the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington DC. In the disease, amyloid-beta protein is deposited in the brain and is associated with this disease, but in a study of 119 people with mild to moderate disease, taking 1 gm of resveratrol twice a day for a year, researchers did not see a significant accumulation of these amyloid-beta deposits. The study is small, so few conclusions can be drawn from this, but there seems to be no harm in taking this drug in these doses, so maybe it is worth a try in those who think that it might help their brain function, particularly if they or a member of their family may have this awful disease.
I have read the same report regarding resveratrol. The only difference is that it is most effective when combines with the pentacyclic triterpenoid Ursolic Acid.
The complete article describing the clinical trial was published online ahead of print in Neurology as an “open access” article freely available to the public at:
https://www.neurology.org/content/early/2015/09/11/WNL.0000000000002035.full.pdf+html
An abstract is described here:
Turner RS, Thomas RG, Craft S, van Dyck CH, Mintzer J, Reynolds BA, Brewer JB, Rissman RA, Raman R, Aisen PS; Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of resveratrol for Alzheimer disease. Neurology. 2015 Sep 11. [Epub ahead of print]
Objective: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicenter 52-week phase 2 trial of resveratrol in individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease (AD) examined its safety and tolerability and effects on biomarker (plasma A?40 and A?42, CSF A?40, A?42, tau, and phospho-tau 181) and volumetric MRI outcomes (primary outcomes) and clinical outcomes (secondary outcomes).
Methods: Participants (n = 119) were randomized to placebo or resveratrol 500 mg orally once daily (with dose escalation by 500-mg increments every 13 weeks, ending with 1,000 mg twice daily). Brain MRI and CSF collection were performed at baseline and after completion of treatment. Detailed pharmacokinetics were performed on a subset (n = 15) at baseline and weeks 13, 26, 39, and 52.
Results: Resveratrol and its major metabolites were measurable in plasma and CSF. The most common adverse events were nausea, diarrhea, and weight loss. CSF A?40 and plasma A?40 levels declined more in the placebo group than the resveratrol-treated group, resulting in a significant difference at week 52. Brain volume loss was increased by resveratrol treatment compared to placebo.
Conclusions: Resveratrol was safe and well-tolerated. Resveratrol and its major metabolites penetrated the blood–brain barrier to have CNS effects. Further studies are required to interpret the biomarker changes associated with resveratrol treatment.
Classification of evidence: This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with AD resveratrol is safe, well-tolerated, and alters some AD biomarker trajectories. The study is rated Class II because more than 2 primary outcomes were designated.