How resveratrol may help health

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. and Chinese researchers have been unraveling how a compound found in grapes -- resveratrol -- may bring a wide spectrum of health benefits.

Researchers at the Barshop Institute of Longevity and Aging Studies at the Health Science Center, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan, China, found resveratrol helps promote a fat cell hormone called adiponectin.

The study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, describes the mechanisms by which resveratrol promotes adiponectin. Both the natural polyphenol resveratrol and the hormone adiponectin have anti-obesity, anti-insulin resistance and anti-aging properties, the researchers say.

"Results from these studies should be of interest to those who are obese, diabetic and growing older," senior author Feng Liu in San Antonio says in a statement. "The findings should also provide important information on the development of novel therapeutic drugs for the treatment of these diseases."

Liu and colleagues confirmed the finding in cells and animal models.