New anti-aging drugs contain resveratrol, found in red wine Drugs that could help people to live to 150-years-old may be available within five years, says a landmark research study. The new drugs are synthetic versions of resveratrol which is found in red wine and is believed to have an anti-ageing effect as it boosts activity of a protein called SIRT1.
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has been testing the medications on patients suffering with medical conditions including cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
The work proves that a single anti-ageing enzyme in the body can be targeted, with the potential to prevent age-related diseases and extend lifespans.
As each of the 117 drugs tested work on the single enzyme through a common mechanism is means that a whole new class of anti-ageing drugs is now viable, which could ultimately prevent cancer, Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes.
Genetics professor David Sinclair, based at Harvard University, said: “Ultimately, these drugs would treat one disease, but unlike drugs of today, they would prevent 20 others.”
“In effect, they would slow ageing,” he added.
The target enzyme, SIRT1, is switched on naturally by calorie restriction and exercise, but it can also be enhanced through activators.
The most common naturally-occurring activator is resveratrol, which is found in small quantities in red wine, but synthetic activators with much stronger activity are already being developed.
Although research surrounding resveratrol has been going on for a decade, until now the basic science had been contested.
Despite this, there have already been promising results in some trials with implications for cancer, cardiovascular disease and cardiac failure, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, fatty liver disease, cataracts, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, sleep disorders and inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis, arthritis and colitis.
Professor Sinclair said: “In the history of pharmaceuticals, there has never been a drug that tweaks an enzyme to make it run faster.”
The technology was sold to GlaxoSmithKline in 2008.
While any drug would be strictly prescribed for certain conditions, Professor Sinclair suggests that one day, they could be taken orally as a preventative.
Professor Sinclair added: “Some of us could live to 150, but we won't get there without more research.”