"The largest nationwide clinical trial to study highdose resveratrol longterm in people with mild to moderate Alzheimers disease found that a biomarker that declines when the disease progresses was stabilized in people who took the purified form of resveratrol.  Resveratrol is a naturally occurring compound found in foods such as red grapes raspberries dark chocolate and some red wines.  The results published online today in Neurology are very interesting says the studys principal investigator R. Scott Turner MD PhD director of the Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown University Medical Center. Turner who treats patients at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital cautions that the findings cannot be used to recommend resveratrol. This is a single small study with findings that call for further research to interpret properly.  The resveratrol clinical trial was a randomized phase II placebocontrolled double blind study in patients with mild to moderate dementia due to Alzheimers disease. An investigational new drug application was required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test the pure synthetic pharmaceuticalgrade resveratrol in the study. It is not available commercially in this form.  The study enrolled  participants. The highest dose of resveratrol tested was one gram by mouth twice daily  equivalent to the amount found in about  bottles of red wine.  John Bozza  participated in the study. Five years ago his wife Diana began noticing something wasnt quite right. He was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment but only a year later his condition progressed to mild Alzheimers.  Diana whose twin sister died from the same disease says there are multiple reasons she and John decided to participate in the resveratrol study and they now know he was assigned to take the active drug.  I definitely want the medical community to find a cure she says. And of course I thought theres always a chance that John could have been helped and who knows maybe he was.  Patients like John who were treated with increasing doses of resveratrol over  months showed little or no change in amyloidbeta Abeta levels in blood and cerebrospinal fluid. In contrast those taking a placebo had a decrease in the levels of Abeta compared with their levels at the beginning of the study.  A decrease in Abeta is seen as dementia worsens and Alzheimers disease progresses still we cant conclude from this study that the effects of resveratrol treatment are beneficial Turner explains. It does appear that resveratrol was able to penetrate the blood brain barrier which is an important observation. Resveratrol was measured in both blood and cerebrospinal fluid.  The researchers studied resveratrol because it activates proteins called sirtuins the same proteins activated by caloric restriction. The biggest risk factor for developing Alzheimers is aging and studies with animals found that most agerelated diseasesincluding Alzheimerscan be prevented or delayed by longterm caloric restriction consuming twothirds the normal caloric intake.  Turner says the study also found that resveratrol was safe and well tolerated. The most common side effects experienced by participants were gastrointestinalrelated including nausea and diarrhea. Also patients taking resveratrol experienced weight loss while those on placebo gained weight.  One outcome in particular was confounding Turner notes. The researchers obtained brain MRI scans on participants before and after the study and found that resveratroltreated patients lost more brain volume than the placebotreated group.  Were not sure how to interpret this finding. A similar decrease in brain volume was found with some antiamyloid immunotherapy trials Turner adds. A working hypothesis is that the treatments may reduce inflammation or brain swelling found with Alzheimers.  The study funded by the National Institute on Aging and conducted with the Alzheimers Disease Cooperative Study began in  and ended in . GUMC was one of  participating medical centers across the U.S.  Further studies including analysis of frozen blood and cerebrospinal fluid taken from patients are underway to test possible drug mechanisms.  Given safety and positive trends toward effectiveness in this phase  study a larger phase  study is warranted to test whether resveratrol is effective for individuals with Alzheimers  or at risk for Alzheimers Turner says.  Resveratrol and similar compounds are being tested in many agerelated disorders including cancer diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders. The study Turner led however is the largest longest and highest dose trial of resveratrol in humans to date.  The research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging U AG. Turner reports no personal financial interests related to the study.  About Georgetown University Medical Center  Georgetown University Medical Center GUMC is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a threepart mission of research teaching and patient care through MedStar Health. GUMCs mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic Jesuit principle of cura personalis  or care of the whole person. The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing  Health Studies both nationally ranked Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health."