After Resveratrol, SRT1720
From EurekAlert!: "A drug designed to specifically hit a protein linked to the life-extending benefits of a meager diet can essentially trick the body into believing food is scarce even when it isn't .. SRT1720, which acts through the protein SIRT1, enhances running endurance in exercised mice and protects the animals against weight gain and insulin resistance even when they eat a high-fat diet, the researchers report. The drug works by shifting the metabolism to a fat-burning mode that normally takes over only when energy levels are low. ... It also helps lay to rest a long-standing controversy in the scientific world over the metabolic benefits of [resveratrol]. Resveratrol also acts on SIRT1, but its influence on other metabolic actors had left room to question exactly how it works. .. There has been a lot of controversy in the field about resveratrol action. We find that the majority of the biology of resveratrol can be ascribed to SIRT1. ... While SIRT1 might not explain all of resveratrol's effects, the new results suggest that the central metabolic protein is responsible for about '80 percent of the picture.'" Which suggests that resveratrol and SRT1720 are not capturing all of the biochemical benefits of calorie restriction.
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/cp-dml102808.php