Therapeutic Potential of Pterostilbene and Resveratrol on Biomechanic, Biochemical, and Histological Parameters in Streptozotocin‐Induced Diabetic Rats

Abstract

Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pterostilbene (PTS) (trans-3,5-dimethoxy-4′-hydroxystilbene) and resveratrol (RSV) (trans-3,5,4′ trihydroxystilbene) applied at different doses for the treatment of streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic rats. Materials and Methods At the end of the 5-week experimental period, the right gastrocnemius muscles of the rats were examined biomechanically, while the left ones were examined histologically. In addition, blood glucose, serum insulin, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were analyzed in blood samples taken from the rats. Results The skeletal muscle isometric contraction forces, which showed a decrease with diabetes, were observed to increase with antioxidant applications. Blood glucose, serum insulin, and MDA levels in diabetic rats approached normal levels after applying PTS. When the electron microscopic images of the rat skeletal muscle were examined, those in the combination treatment group were observed to show a better enhancement in the skeletal muscle morphological structure compared to the other diabetic and treatment groups. Conclusion According to the findings, we suggest that these antioxidant treatments might have good therapeutic nutraceutical potential for some muscle diseases that coexist with diabetes. These treatments should be comprehensively investigated in the future.

Basic Concepts on the Role of Nuclear Factor Erythroid-Derived 2-Like 2 (Nrf2) in Age-Related Diseases

“…Since oxidative stress is a pivotal factor in the DM pathogenesis and complications, studies have emerged aiming to increase the antioxidant response and reducing the oxidative impacts by the investigation Nrf2 activators [34,44,45,46]. In vitro studies, animal models, and clinical trials suggest that the up-regulation of the Nrf2 pathway can be protective against DM (T1 and T2) by suppressing the disease progression and preventing complications [32,47,48,49]. This evidence encourages the activation of Nrf2 as a target against diabetes; however, more studies are necessary to evaluate this effect.…”

Pterostilbene Prevents Early Diabetic Retinopathy Alterations in a Rabbit Experimental Model

“…Streptozotocin (STZ) and alloxan, used to induce type 1 diabetes mellitus in rats, mice or rabbits, are glucose analogues that penetrate pancreatic β cells and induce their demise [40]. Unlike other authors who have used STZ to induce diabetes in rats [41][42][43][44], we observed no significant difference in weight ( Figure 2A) and blood glucose levels ( Figure 2B) between diabetic and Pter-treated diabetic rabbits. This can be understood by the fact that the cytotoxic effect of STZ and alloxan is achieved by different molecular pathways [40], or by an insufficient Pter concentration, which was able to reverse hyperglycaemia with alloxan induction in our experimental model.…”

The Polyphenol Pterostilbene Ameliorates the Myopathic Phenotype of Collagen VI Deficient Mice via Autophagy Induction

“…So far, the proautophagic activity of Pt was mostly investigated in cancer cell lines and tumorigenic conditions ( Lee et al, 2019 ; Ma et al, 2019 ), whereas much less is known about it in other physiological and pathological conditions. For skeletal muscle, the studied effects of Pt administration have mainly regarded insulin sensitivity ( Gómez-Zorita et al, 2015 ; Tastekin et al, 2018 ) and muscle adaptation to exercise ( Zheng et al, 2020 ), but autophagy was not investigated in those studies. In light of this, we investigated the autophagy-modulating action of Pt in fibroblast cultures and in skeletal muscle of wild-type and COL6 null mice, and found that Pt treatment potently induces the autophagic flux and is able to ameliorate the muscle pathology of COL6 null animals.…”