Metabolite Responsible for Resveratrol's Anti-Carcinogenic Properties

LEICESTER, United Kingdom--Resveratrol, a grape extract found in red wine, may have application in fighting cancer, according to scientists from De Montfort University who published a report in the March 4 issue of the British Journal of Cancer (86, 5:774-78, 2002) (www.bjcancer.com). According to the researchers, resveratrol's anti-carcinogenic properties may be a result of its conversion to piceatannol through a metabolic process.

When resveratrol is metabolized in the body by the cytochrome P450 enzyme (CYP1B1)--an enzyme found in human tumors--it creates a metabolite called piceatannol, which has been previously identified as an anti-leukaemic agent. When researchers identified this metabolite, they concluded that its presence explained resveratrol's anti-cancer properties. Researchers concluded that this finding is important because it gives insight into the functional role of CYP1B1 and explains how the CYP1B1 found in tumors may function as a growth-suppressor enzyme.