Resveratrol can help correct hormone imbalance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Supplement lowers testosterone levels in women with common cause of infertility

Date: October 18, 2016

Source: The Endocrine Society

Summary:

Resveratrol -- a natural compound found in red wine and grapes -- can help address a hormone imbalance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a leading cause of infertility in women, according to a new study.

Resveratrol -- a natural compound found in red wine and grapes -- can help address a hormone imbalance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a leading cause of infertility in women, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

An estimated 5 million to 6 million women in the United States have PCOS, according to the Hormone Health Network. It is one of the most common endocrine conditions in women of childbearing age.

Women who have PCOS produce slightly higher amounts of testosterone and other androgen hormones than average. Although these reproductive hormones are typically associated with men, women also have small amounts. The elevated levels in women with PCOS can contribute to irregular or absent menstrual periods, infertility, weight gain, acne or excess hair on the face and body. Women who have PCOS also face a higher risk of developing other health problems, such as diabetes.

Resveratrol is one of a group of plant compounds known as polyphenols. In addition to red wine and grapes, resveratrol is found in nuts. The compound has anti-inflammatory properties.

"Our study is the first clinical trial to find resveratrol significantly lowers PCOS patients' levels of testosterone as well as dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), another hormone that the body can convert into testosterone," said the study's senior author, Antoni J. Duleba, MD, of the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, CA. "This nutritional supplement can help moderate the hormone imbalance that is one of the central features of PCOS."

Thirty women with PCOS completed the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted at Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poznan, Poland. The women were randomly assigned to either take a resveratrol supplement or a placebo pill daily for three months. The participants had blood samples drawn at the beginning and end of the study to determine levels of testosterone and other androgen hormones. The women also underwent an oral glucose tolerance test at the start and conclusion of the study to measure diabetes risk factors.

The researchers found total testosterone levels fell by 23.1 percent among the women who received the resveratrol supplement. In comparison, testosterone levels increased 2.9 percent in the placebo group. DHEAS declined by 22.2 percent in the resveratrol group, while the placebo group experienced a 10.5 percent increase in DHEAS levels.

In addition to moderating androgen hormones, the women who received resveratrol showed improvement in diabetes risk factors. Among the resveratrol group, fasting insulin levels dropped by 31.8 percent during the three-month study. The researchers also found the women who received resveratrol during the study became more responsive to the hormone insulin over the course of the study.

"The findings suggest resveratrol can improve the body's ability to use insulin and potentially lower the risk of developing diabetes," Duleba said. "The supplement may be able to help reduce the risk of metabolic problems common in women with PCOS."

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Materials provided by The Endocrine Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Beata Banaszewska, Joanna Wrotyńska-Barczyńska, Robert Z. Spaczynski, Leszek Pawelczyk, Antoni J. Duleba. Effects of Resveratrol on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial.The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2016; jc.2016-1858 DOI: 10.1210/jc.2016-1858

Cite This Page:

The Endocrine Society. "Resveratrol can help correct hormone imbalance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: Supplement lowers testosterone levels in women with common cause of infertility." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 October 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161018143436.htm>.

Would people be happier (and healthier) if we could make broccoli taste like chocolate?

Date: October 21, 2016 

Source: University of Kentucky

Summary:

At the second annual International Society of Neurogastronomy Symposium, scientists, doctors, chefs and food scientists discuss flavor perception and quality of life for people who can't enjoy food because of their injury or illness.

Register now for the second annual International Society of Neurogastronomy symposium, which will be held at the University of Kentucky on December 10, 2016 to explore the concept of brain and behavior in the context of food.

Among the speakers is pastry chef Taria Camerino, who was featured on an episode of The Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern. Camerino is a gastoral synaesthete who literally "tastes the rainbow" -- in fact, she experiences all five senses as taste. "It's like being a pianist with four hands," said UK Neuropsychologist and ISN co-founder Dan Han.

Also among the scheduled speakers are:

Rachel Laudan, PhD, author of Cuisine & Empire: How has our understanding of taste evolved on the grand scale throughout human history?

Francois Chartier, a pioneering researcher in the realm of recipe creation and wine and food harmonies, named world's best sommelier in 1994, author of Taste Buds and Molecules, which was named the Best Innovative Cookbook in the World at the 2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards: The Art and science of food, wine, and flavors.

Gordon Shepherd, MD, DPhil, Yale University, The father of Neurogastronomy: The evolution of the neural mechanisms relevant to neurogastronomy.

Julie Menella, PhD, Monell Chemical Senses Center: The role of early experiences on food and flavor preferences and growth, and the effects of alcohol and tobacco on women's health and infant development.

Mark Williams, PhD, University of Kentucky: Soil and Plant Biome, Flavor, and the Gut Biome

Gary Beauchamp, Monell Chemical Senses Center: The development of human chemosensory perception and preference and adult human flavor perception.

Kelly Weber, University of Kentucky: Food addiction, measurement and rates in the current US population.

Barry Green, Yale University: Human taste, flavor, and chemesthesis and the relation of these sensitivities both to current theories of sensory mechanisms and to their roles in driving the consumption of foods.

For a full list of speakers, go to http://isneurogastronomy.com.

The term Neurogastronomy was coined by Gordon Shepherd, MD, D.Phil., Professor of Neurobiology at Yale University -- first in 2006 in an article in Nature and six years later in an eponymous book. While Dr. Shepherd has been interested in the concept from a research perspective, Han and a group of neuroscientists, chefs and food scientists are enthusiastic about making it a clinical translational science, with applications in cancer, stroke, and brain injury (which can destroy the sense of taste) and also apply the concept to battle diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The day's format differs from the typical symposium, featuring brief presentations modeled after the popular TED talks and punctuated with breaks for tastings and a contest where the food from regional and national chefs will be judged by patients with taste impairments.

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Materials provided by University of Kentucky. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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University of Kentucky. "Would people be happier (and healthier) if we could make broccoli taste like chocolate?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 October 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161021131948.htm>.