Resveratrol is a polyphenol found in red grapes, red wines, bilberries, blueberries, cranberries and peanuts. It has antioxidant, chemopreventive, and cardioprotective effects.

Hormesis defines a dose-response curve for a chemical acting on live cells which is stimulatory at low doses and detrimental at high doses. This results in a J- or U-shaped curve. Alcohol or wine effects on heart muscle result in a J-shaped curve. Hormesis has been known for 100 years and is commonly seen in toxins.

Preconditioning is an example of hormesis whereby low doses of certain toxins can benefit cells by stimulating the intracellular defense mechanisms, such as antioxidants, to prepare the cells to deal with a higher dose of the toxins if they come. This is an ‘adaptive response’ which prepares the cells to deal with such things as environmental stress.

A low dose of resveratrol is known to stimulate longevity genes. Resveratrol is known to show hormesis with cardiac cells. It is protective at low doses and destructive of cardiac cells at high doses.

Longevinex is a specific preparation of resveratrol, rice bran phytate, ferulic acid, and quercetin. Ferulic acid and quercetin are antioxidants. Rice bran and wheat contain phytates. They are iron chelators.

This study was done to determine dose-response curves for the action of resveratrol on heart muscle cells. It was studied in parallel with a Longevinex. Resveratrol has been shown to be cardioprotective.

Rats were given resveratrol or Longevinex at 2.5, or 25, or 100 mg/kg for 21 days. Another group of rats was given placebo for comparison.

The study showed that resveratrol showed homesis with cardiac cells, beneficial at low doses and damaging at high doses. Resveratrol showed the typical J-shaped curved. At the highest doses of resveratrol, the hearts ceased to function. The negative effects of resveratrol occurred in 14 to 30 days.

Longeninex was found to be cardioprotective for up to one month, even at the highest dose. Longevinex was given to rabbits for six months to test another species. Longevinex gave the same cardioprotection in rabbits that it did in rats, even at high doses.

CONCLUSION: Resveratrol shows cardioprotection at low doses and cardiac cell damage at high doses (hormesis.) Longevinex shows only cardioprotection in rats and rabbits, even at the highest doses. Future clinical and laboratory studies need to take into account the effects of hormesis.

NOTE: Caveat emptor, the authors should have said that Longevinex did not show hormesis at the doses tested. If they had tested it at higher doses, cell death could have been seen. This has been the problem in the past. Hormesis is not detected in most research because the studies are not extended to strong enough and to low enough doses.

Longevinex contains giant knotweed leaf (Polygonum cuspidatum,) containing, 5% quercetin, 5% rice bran phytate and ferulic acid with vitamin D added. That means that Longevinex contains no more than 90% and no more than 90 mg/kg resveratrol. It seems that it would have been a more equitable test to have the Longevinex dose be higher with an actual 100 mg/kg resveratrol. Then, perhaps, Longevinex would have shown hormesis.

PMID: 21264071.

Summary #475.