Grape Seed Extract

www.perpetualcommotion.com
"Give with a free hand, but give only your own."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien The Children of Hurin
- Grape Seed Extract -

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Observations:

See also Tau Busters

A message was posted on the Yahoo "PSPinformatin" discussion group in late June of 2009:

--- In pspinformation@yahoogroups.com, Connie Arizzo <conniearz@...> wrote:
>
> Aletta, My nephew, a research doctor attended a seminar about psp. He had heard of the disease, but took more interest in it when my husband was diagnosed with it. He said that grape seed extract given to mice and rats in the laboratory reversed the symtoms in psp. It did not cure it, but the lab animals were able to function again with less help. However, the extract has not been tested in humans. He suggested to me that my husband take six pills a day, 2 each morning, noon and night. He said the pills would not hurt him as they are just grape seed extract, and it would take months to see a difference, if any. Since we are both home bound I put him on the extract so now, its a wait and see situation. The extract can be purchased at Sam's club, costco, bj's etc. very cheaply. Time will tell.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pspinformation/message/10381

Grape Seed Polyphenolic Extract as a Potential Novel Therapeutic Agent in Tauopathies
Journal Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
Publisher IOS Press
ISSN 1387-2877 (Print) 1875-8908 (Online)
Issue Volume 16, Number 2 / 2009
Pages 433-439

Abstract: "Abnormal misfoldings of the microtubule-associated protein tau, leading to the aggregation of tau into paired helical filaments that are ultimately deposited as neurofibrillary tangles, is a key neuropathologic feature of a number of neurodegenerative disorders collectively referred to as tauopathies. We recently observed that a particular grape seed polyphenolic extract (GSPE), namely, Meganatural-Az® may attenuate the generation and stability of misfolded proteins. We hypothesized that Meganatural-Az® GSPE might also attenuate tau protein misfolding that leads to the generation of tau filamentary aggregates that are critical for the initiation and progression of neurodegeneration and/or cognitive dysfunctions in tauopathies. In this study, we used in vitro aggregations of synthetic Ac-^{306}VQIVYK^{311} tau peptide as a model system to explore whether Meganatural-Az® GSPE might modulate aggregations of tau protein. We demonstrate that this GSPE is capable of inhibiting tau peptide aggregations, as well as dissociating preformed tau peptide aggregates. Results from this study suggest that this GSPE might provide beneficial disease-modifying bioactivities in tau-associated neurodegenerative disorders by modulating tau-mediated neuropathologic mechanisms. Our observation, in conjunction with the emonstrated bioavailability, as well as safety and tolerability, of this GSPE, supports the development of Meganatural-Az® GSPE for the prevention and/or treatment of tau-associated
neurodegenerative disorders."
http://iospress.metapress.com/content/fq65p9545646548m/

Development of a grape seed polyphenolic extract with anti-oligomeric activity as a novel treatment in progressive supranuclear palsy and other tauopathies.
J Neurochem. 2010 Jun 20. [Epub ahead of print]
Pasinetti GM, Ksiezak-Reding H, Santa-Maria I, Wang J, Ho L.

Center of Excellence for Novel Approaches to Neurodiagnostics and Neurotherapeutics, Brain Institute, Center of Excellence for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Alzheimer's Disease, Department of Neurology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1137, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Abstract

A diverse group of neurodegenerative diseases - including progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) among others, collectively referred to as tauopathies - are characterized by progressive, age-dependent intracellular formations of misfolded protein aggregates that play key roles in the initiation and progression of neuropathogenesis. Recent studies from our laboratory reveal that grape seed-derived polyphenolic extracts (GSPE) potently prevent tau fibrillization into neurotoxic aggregates and therapeutically promote the dissociation of preformed tau aggregates (Ho et al., 2009). Based on our extensive bioavailability, bioactivity and functional pre-clinical studies, combined with the safety of GSPE in laboratory animals and in humans, we initiated a series of studies exploring the role of GSPE (Meganatural-Az((R)) GSPE) as a potential novel botanical drug for the treatment of certain forms of tauopathies including PSP, a neurodegenerative disorder involving the accumulation and deposition of misfolded tau proteins in the brain characterized, in part, by abnormal intracellular tau inclusions in specific anatomical areas involving astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and neurons (Takahashi et al., 2002). In this mini-review article, we discuss the biochemical characterization of GSPE in our laboratory and its potential preventative and therapeutic role in model systems of abnormal tau processing pertinent to PSP and related tauopathies.

PMID: 20569300 [PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20569300

Grape Seed Polyphenolic Extract Specifically Decreases Aβ*56 in the Brains of Tg2576 Mice.
Liu P, Kemper LJ, Wang J, Zahs KR, Ashe KH, Pasinetti GM.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2011 Jul 8. [Epub ahead of print]
N. Bud Grossman Center for Memory Research and Care, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Abstract

Amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers, found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and transgenic mouse models of AD, cause synaptotoxicity and memory impairment. Grape seed polyphenolic extract (GSPE) inhibits Aβ oligomerization in vitro and attenuates cognitive impairment and AD-related neuropathology in the brains of transgenic mice. In the current study, GSPE was administered to Tg2576 mice for a period of five months. Treatment significantly decreased brain levels of Aβ*56, a 56-kDa Aβ oligomer previously shown to induce memory dysfunction in rodents, without changing the levels of transgenic amyloid-β protein precursor, monomeric Aβ, or other Aβ oligomers. These results thus provide the first demonstration that a safe and affordable intervention can lower the levels of a memory-impairing Aβ oligomer in vivo and strongly suggest that GSPE should be further tested as a potential prevention and/or therapy for AD.
PMID:21743132[PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21743132

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Known sources:

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Natural sources:

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References:

Natural Chemical Found in Grapes May Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease
ScienceDaily (July 15, 2011)
grape seed polyphenols -- a natural antioxidant --
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110715135211.htm

Grape Seed Polyphenolic Extract Specifically Decreases Aβ*56 in the Brains of Tg2576 Mice.
Peng Liu, Lisa J. Kemper, Jun Wang, Kathleen R. Zahs, Karen H. Ashe, Giulio M. Pasinetti.
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease., Volume 26, Number 4, (in press)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/tmsh-ncf071511.php

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