Researchers from the University of Leicester in the UK have found that molecules created when resveratrol is broken down in the body can come back together and regenerate the beneficial compound within living cells.
The discovery, initially reported at the Reveratrol 2012 conference, calls in to question whether bioavailability is a genuine issue for resveratrol, says Professor Karen Brown – who led the research study.
“A problem that is often stated for resveratrol is its poor bioavailability,” explained Brown. “It gets absorbed pretty well into the plasma, but once it gets absorbed it is metabolised very very quickly, so you get low levels of resveratrol in the plasma and you get high levels of sulphate and glucuronide metabolites.”
The researcher said people have wondered whether these metabolites have any health benefit, or whether that might even help to regenerate resveratrol ‘for years’. And now Brown and her team have an answer.
The team have found that these metabolites are able to enter living cells, where they re-form the larger resveratrol compound.