After a great deal of early promise, resveratrol has been on the ropes for a while, most prominently as a result of studies questioning whether it can directly activate sirtuins — this against a backdrop of growing skepticism that sirtuin activation can extend mammalian lifespan in any case.
Now, another (possible) black eye: GlaxoSmithKline (the company that purchased Sirtris, a pharmaceutical company co-founded by sirtuin/resveratrol pioneer David Sinclair) has suspended a trial of a resveratrol formulation, SRT501 in multiple myeloma patients, because several of the study’s subjects developed kidney failure.
GSK emphasizes that the trial has not been cancelled, but they are observing a moratorium on recruiting new patients until they determine whether the resveratrol was responsible for the subjects’ kidney problems. Nephropathy is a frequent complication in myeloma; one hypothesis being entertained is that the very high doses of resveratrol used in the trial caused vomiting, which in turn resulted in dehydration and tipped the balance in kidneys already close to failure due to the underlying cancer.
More elsewhere:
May 7, 2010 at 7:29 pm
I thought I had been following the news about resveratrol but now I realize I missed something important along the way. When did it become an anti-cancer drug? Could you point us to any articles about its anti-cancer properties?
June 14, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Some of the studies that resulted in kidney problems involved doses of 3000mg/kg of body weight in Mice. This only shows that too high a dose of anything is bad, even water or O2 can kill you! We need to find the maximum dose/Kg of body weight. The stuff GSK made in these studies is just too strong. They need to keep trying, however. Rock on! this stuff will work
July 30, 2010 at 8:36 pm
ouroboros, you posted about the Singularity Summit last year.
Why not make a post about the upcoming 2010 Summit to remind your readers? (http://www.singularitysummit.com/)
September 23, 2010 at 9:19 am
I hadn’t heard that Glaxo suspended some trails. Very interesting.
Was there mention of people throwing up and becoming dehydrated or is that just a theory?
What is the singularity summit?
October 14, 2010 at 3:56 pm
From what I’ve researched, there is still no proof that resveratrol translates past the intestinal wall and works outside of a petri dish. There is some very interesting research being done lately without the use of resveratrol. Email me if you want any of the info that I’ve gathered