Jason Dyck has long believed in the beneficial properties of resveratrol - a powerful antioxidant produced by a number of plants. The University of Alberta pediatrics professor has spent years studying the natural compound, exploring its potential benefits for exercise, lowering blood pressure and heart health. Now his work is revealing resveratrol's potential for treating diabetes.
Although studies of obese patients treated with resveratrol have shown it to be effective, the amount of resveratrol found to circulate in the bloodstream is very low, leading scientists to question how resveratrol works. In a new study published in the journal Diabetes, researchers at the U examined the effects of resveratrol on the gut bacteria, or microbial community, in obese mice. The team found that feeding resveratrol to obese mice over a 6-week period changed the composition of gut bacteria and improved glucose tolerance.
To expand on the findings, the scientists conducted a second experiment in which they fed resveratrol to healthy mice for 8 weeks.
Dyck says his team was initially unsure whether the fecal transplants altered the mice's gut microbiome or whether they produced a metabolite that followed this effect. However, he is now convinced that the dramatic changes were actually the result of unknown metabolites in the feces.
"I believe there is something else in the mixture that is causing the improvement in glucose homeostasis in the obese mice," says Dyck, "and we are trying to isolate this unknown compound."
"To me, this is very exciting," he added: "If there is a small molecule in the feces that can be identified, we can quickly move forward to human testing."
The team believes the findings could open the door to new treatments for future diabetics.
"It's going to take a Herculean effort to find out what this molecule is, maybe it's one, maybe it's a combination of four or five, maybe even a hundred, we don't know, but we intend to find out", Dyck said.
Post time: Nov-25-2023