Using Resveratrol from red wine to fight Mesothelioma
By Warren Miller. 25th November 2016
Scientists at Soonchunhyang University in Korea were the first to study a chemical found in red wine called Resveratrol.
Resveratrol is a polyphenol derived from the skin of red grapes and found in red wine and grape juice. It is also found in peanuts, blueberries and some other berries.
A large amount of resveratrol is produced in the skin of grapes to protect the plant against fungal diseases and sun damage, therefore wine has higher levels of resveratrol compared to other natural food.
The team at Soonchunhyang investigated the chemical in fighting mesothelioma in 2012, with research that found that lab mice exposed to Resveratrol daily for 4 weeks experienced suppressed tumor growth and increased mesothelioma survival.
In 2013, the University team demonstrated the ability of Resveratrol to fight pleural mesothelioma by making tumor cells more susceptible to the toxic effects of Clofarabine, a prescription drug used to treat leukemia in children.
Resveratrol & Cisplatin combined to fight Mesothelioma
They have now continued their study into how to make chemotherapy more effective in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma with Resveratrol. This time they have combined the chemical with the Mesothelioma chemotherapy drug, Cisplatin. The team found that the combination was even better at killing the resistant cancer cells.
Dr Lee concluded:
“ The combination treatment of cisplatin and resveratrol synergistically induced apoptosis, as evidenced by typical cell
morphological changes ”
There was one problem: One Mesothelioma cell-line was more resistant to the treatment. In these mesothelioma cells, instead of causing apoptosis, the treatment appeared to trigger self-defensive autophagy, a natural process of breaking down cells into their component parts in order to make new cells.
The team at Soonchunhyang treated these cells with an antibiotic, Bafilomycin A1 known to inhibit autophagy. This made the resistant cells susceptible to the Resveratrol, Cisplatin combination treatment. The team concludes that the treatment might best be delivered along with a drug to prevent autophagy.
A word of warning - if you are considering the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin to fight Mesothelioma, do not treat yourself by
guzzling copious amounts of red wine. Resveratrol actually works differently when it enters the body via the digestive system.
Author
Warren Miller MSc. BSc
Claims manager and website author
Warren has been assisting victims of Mesothelioma and asbestos cancer for more than 18 years. He is also the senior technical author of this website, responsible for sourcing legal and medical material beneficial to those who may been recently diagnosed with an asbestos disease.. Read more >
