Lindsay Brown, associate professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of Queensland and author of the research says “The breadth of benefits is remarkable – cancer prevention, protection of the heart and brain from damage, reducing age-related diseases such as inflammation, reversing diabetes and obesity, and many more.”

“It has long been a question as to how such a simple compound could have these effects but now the puzzle is becoming clearer with the discovery of the pathways, especially the sirtuins, a family of enzymes that regulate the production of cellular components by the nucleus.

The major points to the study established the following:

Resveratrol exhibits therapeutic potential for cancer chemo-prevention as well as cardio-protection. Brown states “It sounds contradictory that a single compound can benefit the heart by preventing damage to cells, yet prevent cancer by causing cell death,.”The most likely explanation is that low concentrations of Resveratrol activate survival mechanisms of cells while high concentrations turn on the in-built death signals in these cells.”

Resveratrol may inhibit age-related disorders, like neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and inflammation. Brown says “The simplest explanation is that resveratrol turns on the cell’s own survival pathways, preventing damage to individual cells,”. “Further mechanisms help, including removing very reactive oxidants in the body and improving blood supply to cells.”

Low doses of resveratrol increase cellular survival as a function of cardio- and neuro-protection, while high Resveratrol doses increase cell death. “The key difference is probably the result of activation of the sirtuins in the nucleus,” said Brown. “Low activation reverses age-associated changes, while high activation increases the process of apoptosis or programmed cell death to remove cellular debris. Similar changes are seen with low-dose versus high-dose resveratrol: low-dose resveratrol produces cellular protection and reduces damage, while high-dose resveratrol prevents cancers,” Said Brown.

These findings seem to point to resveratrol’s dual role in both maintaining health blood flow and heart health when taken in lower doses, while also exhibiting anti-cancer ant-tumor qualities in larger doses.
Final notes made by Stephen Taylor, from the University of Queensland Pharmacology department, is that red wine Resveratrol is largely inactivated by the digestive processes in the stomach and liver before it reaches the blood stream. So, he concludes that the biological effects could be even more profound with greater bioavailability – this suggests the possible potency of Resveratrol supplements that deliver Resveratrol in capsules, that can pass through the digestive process without dissolving rapidly, may be a better source of Resveratrol than tablet or powders.

As greater exposure of UVB radiation increases skin cancer risk, the researchers studied the effect of a topical application of Resveratrol on multiple UVB exposure damaged skin of hairless mice, during seven consecutive days of UVB exposure.

The scientists studied resveratrol’s effect on survivin, which is involved in the control of cell division, and is a structurally unique member of the apoptosis inhibitors protein family. Survivin is overexpressed in most human cancers, but absent in normal adult tissues, and is thought to be a potential therapy target for new anti-cancer treatments. Findings of the experiment displayed that the resveratrol topical treatment significantly lowered UVB exposure and regulation of protein expression of survivin.

Dr. Nihal Ahmad, the lead researcher of the study said he was happy to see that resveratrol was able to “modulate multiple signaling in the cells, which actually protects the skin cells from damages that may lead to the development of cancer.” Dr Ahmad suggested that additional research should be conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Resveratrol in skin care products and moderate dietary consumption.

Resveratrol significantly inhibited UVB-mediated increases in skin thickness and edema; epidermal cyclooxygenase (COX-2); ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) enzyme and protein levels; and protein levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), all of which are established markers of tumor promotion. Resveratrol also increased stimulation of a UVB-mediated augmentation in p53 protein levels and was shown to retard UVB exposure-mediated increases in cell cycle promoting signals including the activation of cell division.
The ramifications of using Resveratrol skin creams to prevent as well as inhibit skin cancer are exciting considering the global warming issues and ozone deterioration we are experiencing on our planet. There are a couple Resveratrol infused creams that may be worth considering after reading about this research.