Red Wine Chemical Guards Mice from Prostate Tumors

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK SEPT 11, 2007 (Reuters Health) - Resveratrol, an antioxidant found in grapes and berries, can slow the growth of prostate tumors in mice, a new study shows.

"If we could do this in human beings, this would be a significant achievement," Dr. Coral A. Lamartiniere of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the study"s lead author, pointed out in an interview with Reuters Health. Slowing tumor growth so that a man developed prostate cancer in his 80s rather than in his 60s could mean he wouldn"t wind up dying from the disease, Lamartiniere noted.

Red wine and grape juices also are rich sources of resveratrol, which plants produce to protect themselves from bacterial and fungal attacks. Studies in animals have found resveratrol may prevent cancer, protect the heart and even extend life.

To investigate whether resveratrol might be effective in slowing or preventing prostate tumor growth, the researchers fed mice bred to develop such tumors a diet containing the resveratrol equivalent of a bottle of red wine daily, or a control diet.

The resveratrol-fed mice were nearly eight times less likely than the control mice to develop poorly differentiated prostatic tumors, the researchers found. "That"s the worst tumors that you can have -- those are the ones that are large, those are the ones that would more likely spread," Lamartiniere explained.

Resveratrol-fed mice also had slower cell growth and division in their prostate glands. Levels of several cellular messengers that inhibit cell growth were increased in the mice given resveratrol compared to the control mice, while levels of some tumor-linked chemicals such as insulin-like growth factor 1 were reduced.

Lamartiniere and his team are now investigating whether lower concentrations of resveratrol will have the same anti-tumor effects. "Maybe we could get this down to two glasses of wine a night rather than a bottle," he said.

SOURCE:

• Carcinogenesis, August 3, 2007.