Trans Resveratrol - Polygonum Cuspidatum

Common Names:

Japanese Knotweed, Crimson Beauty, Japanese Bamboo, Sally Rhubarb, Hu Zhang, Itadori, Renoue du Japon.

What is the history of Polygonum?

Polygonum is a native plant of many countries in east Asia including Japan, China and Korea and is cultivated in other countries as well such as Russia and North America. Polygonum has a long history of medicinal use in China and Japan dating back over 2000 years. Interestingly, the medicinal use of this plant was first listed in Mingyi Bielu (the Supplementary Records of Famous Physicians), a famous monograph of 365 Traditional Chinese Medicinal herbs written in China during the Han Dynasty between 206 BC and 220 AD.

Traditional medicinal uses of Polygonum included conditions such as hepatitis and jaundice, menstrual imbalances, arthritic pain, heart problems, burns and even snake bite.

Researchers have been studying Polygonum for decades and in 1963 they discovered that the plant contained three constituents responsible for its many health-giving properties. Those chemical constituents are the polyphenols resveratrol and polydatin, and the anthraquinone emodin.

There are extensive studies in laboratories and evidence from preclinical human studies showing polygonum’s protective role in a range of medical conditions and health challenges. In recent decades, this plant has become extremely popular amongst researchers and Clinicians alike, primarily due to its content of the polyphenol resveratrol. Resveratrol is synthesised by several plants including, grapes and berries, as part of the plants defence mechanism against environmental stressors such as drought, UV radiation, bacterial/fungal infections and pests. These phytochemicals in the plant protect the cells of the plant and scientists have discovered that when we ingest them as humans, they are also capable of protecting our cells.

While resveratrol is the focus of attention in the anti-ageing world at present, we use the whole plant as a functional food and it is the synergistic effect of polygonum’s 3 main constituents that make this plant so amazing and so essential in our fight against ageing.

 

Recognised Targets and Mechanisms of Action

Resveratrol

Longevity and healthspan

• Upregulates sirtuin genes especially sirt1
• Downregulates mTOR gene activity
• Inhibits the transcription factor NF-kB
• Inhibits lipofuscin formation that causes wear and tear in cells
• Modulates the expression of beta-galactosidase activity associated with senescence
• Upregulates transcription factor FOX01

Exercise and sports improvement

• Improves stamina and endurance
• Supports glucose absorption by the muscle cells
• Supports muscle growth and strength
• Improves blood flow and oxygen delivery to working muscles

Body weight

• Down regulation of fat accumulation by inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity
• Reducing fat accumulation in liver cells
• Improving bile secretion and fat clearance
• Supports thermogenesis
• Inhibits mRNA and proteins associated with fat accumulation

Antioxidant defences

• Suppresses reactive oxygen species production and oxidative stress
• Upregulates endogenous antioxidant systems such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione (GPx) and catalase (CAT)
• Down-regulates numerous inflammatory mediators – prostaglandins, interleukins, nuclear factor B, c-reactive protein and cytokines

Cardiovascular and heart health

• Reduces the thickening of arterial walls by inhibiting formation of plaques
• Inhibition of platelet activation causing sticky blood and clots
• Modulation of blood lipid levels and fat metabolism
• Prevention of cardiac fibrosis and cardiac muscle wasting
• Promotes opening of blood vessels to improve blood flow to the brain and skin
• Activates and upregulates nitric oxide synthesis and enhances its release
• Reduces homocysteine-induced vascular and nerve defects

Increased mitochondrial creation and function

• Upregulates the transcription factors Nrf1, Nrf2 and mitochondrial transcription factor A
• Increases mitochondrial size
• Improves ATP and NAD production
• Upregulates the DNA inside mitochondria
• Supports the mitochondrial transition pores (mPTP) in the inner mitochondrial membrane

Signalling pathways

• Upregulates important AMPK signalling
• Makes estrogen receptors more sensitive to signalling
• Supports insulin signalling and sensitivity
• Improves cytokine signalling in the gut

Immune function

• Antibacterial activity against gut bugs like staphylococcus aureus and E. coli
• Downregulates histamine release
• Inhibits viral replication
• Enhances the activity of nucleosides in antiretroviral medications

Healthy gut

• Helps regulate a healthy gut microbiome
• Upregulates the metabolism of gut microbes
• Modulates the gene expression of gut microbes
• Improves gut lining repair and regeneration

Nerve protection

• Reduces plaque formation on nerves
• Down-regulates inflammation in nerves
• Reduces oxidative damage in the brain
• Improves mood by regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

Anti-cancer agent

• Induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) in activated immune cells
• Alters gene expression of forkhead proteins associated with tumour initiation and growth
• Inhibits DNA synthesis in cancer cells
• Downregulates MALAT1 and Wnt/B-catenin signalling pathways to inhibit metastasis



Polydatin

Heart health

• Slows breakdown of cardiac tissue and injury
• Relaxes blood vessels and capillaries throughout the body
• Reduces plaque build-up in arteries
• Modulates calcium handling to reduce pressure overload

Liver regeneration

• Improves microcirculation to injured liver tissue
• Protects liver tissue from carbon tetrachloride and hydrogen peroxide
• Supports liver defences to protect against high fat diets

Nerve Protection

• Reduces neurotoxicity caused by amyloid plaques
• Passes the blood brain barrier very well to protect the nerves of the brain
• Protects nerve mitochondria from injury

Immune modulation

• Promotes natural killer (NK) cell activities
• Strong antibacterial actions
• Inhibits white blood cell adhesion and clumping

Antioxidant defences

• Increases the scavenging of oxygen free radicals
• Increases the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione and catalase in brain tissue
• Protects antioxidants from damage caused by carbon tetrachloride (CCI4)

Skin and wound healing

• Reduces the effects of burn shock to skin
• Supports collagen and capillary production
• Upregulates collagen 1 expression and increases tensile strength of tissue



Emodin

Immune Defence

• Blocks viral spike proteins inhibiting viral attachment to host cells
• Inhibits lytic genes to reduce viral DNA replication
• Modulates immune expression and activities

Anti-cancer Agent

• Improves cell cycle modulation in specific oncogene-overexpressing cells
• Decreases transfer factor specificity protein 1 (Sp1) reducing cancer cell growth
• Improves efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs
• Reduces side-effects of cancer regimes

Hormonal balance

• Exerts oestrogen-like activity binding to human oestrogen receptor a (ERa) and B (ERB)

 

* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA or TGA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.