10 replies to this topic

[Saffron]

Why are you guys taking Resveratrol when you can just take Pterostilbene. Its the same thing except two OH's are Methyl instead. You can think of it as Methylated Resveratrol. Im sure its a prodrug for resveratrol and active its self. More bioavailable im sure, it has to be.

See the structure?

http://en.wikipedia....i/Pterostilbene

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Resveratrol

Pterostilbene is probably the only marketed supplement that would be appropriate to get its own thread in the Resveratrol section without being off topic. You could say Its akin to Vitamin D2 vs Vitamin D3.

Anyone try it out? These are cheap chemicals we should be able to have pure resveratrol powder and Pterostilbene powder for cheaper than what resveratrol powder currently is.

Edited by tone303, 06 March 2014 - 12:16 PM.

[hav]

Why are you guys taking Resveratrol when you can just take Pterostilbene. Its the same thing except two OH's are Methyl instead.

It may be similar but it is different. One of its differences is that it is more lipophillic than resveratrol and might absorb primarily via the lymphatic system rather than the bloodstream. Thus giving it possibly different effects. Which is not fully known because it hasn't been studied as thoroughly as resveratrol. Here are the pubmed study search results for both:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....m=pterostilbene

http://www.ncbi.nlm....erm=resveratrol

Around 170 studies for ptero compared to over 6,000 for resveratrol. The effects of ptero all seem to be positive, it does seem to have better bioavailability, and some of its effects seem to overlap those of resveratrol. I combine them myself, being careful not to cut back on the resveratrol so as not to lose any of its proven effects.

Howard

[Saffron]

Good Reply. I think im going to try Pterostilbene. Someone should study if it metabolizes to resveratrol, or if it becomes =O instead of -OH like in the case of caffeine. Lots of compounds are desmethyl metabolized to -OH some go straight to =O. Alright thats the only answer i needed, linking to pubmed for each was a good idea.

[LucidMind]

If I only had the choice of choosing one or the other I would choose Pterostilbene since it has much better bioavailability and shows better efficacy than resveratrol in the latest studies. That's not to say that resveratrol has not place as well and I think that both should be taken since they act on different pathways. It would be nice to see a supplement that resveratrol and pterostilbene combined in one capsule.

I think Pterostilbene has less studies because it has been overlooked until very recently. There is a much higher ratio of pterostilbene studies/resveratrol studies over the last year on PubMed. Just give it a few years to catch up.

Edited by LucidMind, 09 March 2014 - 01:57 AM.

[Saffron]

If I only had the choice of choosing one or the other I would choose Pterostilbene since it has much better bioavailability and shows better efficacy than resveratrol in the latest studies. That's not to say that resveratrol has not place as well and I think that both should be taken since they act on different pathways. It would be nice to see a supplement that resveratrol and pterostilbene combined in one capsule.

I think Pterostilbene has less studies because it has been overlooked until very recently. There is a much higher ratio of pterostilbene studies/resveratrol studies over the last year on PubMed. Just give it a few years to catch up.

I think its better just purely from an intuitive standpoint of looking at the 2D structure, let alone any studies, handsome molecue. I wonder if it would be any better if the third HO was also methylated. Source Naturals distibutes more different kinds supplements than any other company, and as you might guess, has it.

to me, its resveratrol is psychoactive, a 2 on a scale of 0 to 10, 0 meaning inactive, assumed placebo or nothing, 10 meaning extremely psychoactive. Not to say how good it is, just how psychoactive no matter good or bad. Resveratrol about a 1 or 2. I need to try Pterostilbene soon,

Id like to see a cap thats 100 mg of each (as pure compound not extract of knotweed) with a conservative & modest 3 mg of bioperine. Source naturals makes so much stuff, that they even have a 10 mg bioerpine tablet, thats just bioperine.

[hav]

If I only had the choice of choosing one or the other I would choose Pterostilbene since it has much better bioavailability and shows better efficacy than resveratrol in the latest studies.

Problem with the bio-availability advantage has been that commercial availability has been so much lower. Due to a patent claimed to be the most cost effective ptero production method. The Patent is owned by The University of Mississippi and exclusively licensed to Chromadex. Apparently UM and Chromadex are more interested in money than widespread public availability. The result is that the OTC ptero preparations they license are typically 50 mg compared to 500 mg for resveratrol. Effectively cutting any bio-availability advantage by a factor of 10. And that doesn't even take into account other methods of increasing resveratrol bio-availability like micronizing or enhancing cellular permeability with piperine. Or manipulating lipid and/or water solubility. In addition, ptero also competes with polydatin which has an absorption profile similar to ptero. Right now polydatin studies exceed ptero studies in number but have generated even less interest than ptero.

There seems to be a litigation in progress in Califormia federal court with Chromadex suing Biotavia. Near as I can tell without access to the complaint is that the issue seems to be based on trademark, not patent. Which is what I find most interesting. See:

http://dockets.justi...1cv01273/510575

There was a previous litigation before the US Patent and Trademark Board of Appeals challenging the Chromadex right to trademark the descriptive phrase, "Next Generation of Resveratrol" in describing its licensed pterostilbene product. The challenge was withdrawn at the end of February, possibly in favor of having the issue decided in the federal courts. See:

http://www.plainsite...html?id=2264940

So maybe a federal judge will ultimately rule on whether ptero really is better than resveratrol.

The only Chromadex competitors I've come across so far in the ptero supply market seem to be Vosun Chemical and Tainjin Jianfeng, both in China. Biotavia uses Tainjin Jianfeng and just came out with 250 mg caps. So maybe the dynamic is changing. Vosun sells online via Sun Nootropic. Vosun bulk ptero pricing is competitive with resveratrol making it cost effective for me to pack my own 500 mg 99.98% pure ptero caps.

Howard

[Saffron]

Thanks for this specific info on the patents and why it is still an obscure supplement. I thought it made sense to have one Pterostilbene thread in the resveratrol section since its about as close to it as vitamin D2 is to D3 or methyl-B12 is to Adenosyl-B12, etc.

someone would be smart to find a route to synthesize the compound that is all 3 being methylated then have china mass produce it.

Though methyl in place of hydroxy doesnt always mean better. A classic example of this is the pain reliever tramadol. When one of it's CH3's becomes OH via CYP2D6, it (the metabolite) has 200 times more affinity for mu receptors.

Edited by Saffron, 10 March 2014 - 10:02 PM.

[Fred_CALICO]

pTeroPure® (Trans-Pterostilbene) 100 mg Autres ingrédients : Cellulose microcristalline, stéarate de magnésium (E572), dioxyde de silicium (E551).
pTeroPure®, Chromadex, USA.


34€ = Price in Europa

[maxwatt]

In China they are producing it in vats of specilly bred (non-GMO) microorganisms. Pretty cheap and I suspect an end-run around the Chromodex patent, though they probably would sue anyway

[Castiel]

Regards resveratrol and pterostilbene, according to lef pterostilbene does not replace resveratrol but complements it and acts downstream of resveratrol, resveratrol acts higher up even if for shorter periods.

Scientists have found that resveratrol activates genes near the beginning of the molecular cascade precipitated by caloric restriction. These in turn activate a broad array of disease-preventing genes. In essence, resveratrol’s beneficial genetic action takes place “upstream.”

Pterostilbene directly activates genes “downstream” from the sites of resveratrol’s action. This complements resveratrol’s ability to help prevent cancer and diabetes, and support healthy blood lipids. Acting together, resveratrol and pterostilbene produce potent longevity-promoting effects across the cycle of gene expression through complementary mechanisms.-link

I assume this is based on research regarding gene expression changes.

[hlgaskins]

I believe that all natural biological substances including plant extracts such as Pterostilbene can't be patented due to a 2013, Supreme Court ruling. Chromadex's patent for pTeroPure is for a syntheisis or synthetic ptereostilbene, which shouldn't affect the rights of any supplement supplier from using a naturally sourced pterostilbene extract. The problem with purchasing pterostilbene is going to be akin to purchasing Resveratrol when it first hit the market such as price and finding a source with verfiable purity.