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Resveratrol and the Pharmacology of Aging: A New Vertebrate Model to Validate an Old Molecule
Dario Riccardo Valenzano and Alessandro Cellerino
volume 5 | issue 10
15 may 2006Pages: 1027 - 1032
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The natural phytoalexin resveratrol, found in grapes and red wine, recently raised to public fame for its positive effects on longevity in yeasts, worms and flies. Resveratrol anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory in vitro action on mammalian cell cultures also suggest a possible positive effect on human health and life-expectancy. To study the effects of resveratrol on vertebrate aging is obviously a particularly relevant question. We have studied resveratrol effects in a very short-lived vertebrate: the annual fish Nothobranchius furzeri. Resveratrol treatment prolonged lifespan and delayed the onset of age-related dysfunctions in this fish. This result identifies resveratrol as the first molecule which consistently retards aging in organisms as diverse as yeast, worm, fly and fish, but it also reveals the potential of this short-lived fish as an animal model for pharmacological research. Moreover, being related to stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) the “pufferfishes” Takifugu and Tetraodon, and even more closely related to medaka (Oryzias latipes), it can greatly beneficiate from the recent development of genomic resources for these fish models and in the future become a complete model system for the aging research community.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.