Pterostilbene is more efficacious than hydroxystilbenes in protecting liver fibrogenesis in a carbon tetracholride-induced rat model

Stilbene compounds existing in edible berries have attracted much attention due to their efficacious health-promoting properties such as antioxidant, anti-aging, modulation of metabolic diseases and cancer prevention among others. Pterostilbene has superior pharmacokinetic profile over hydroxylated stilbenes such as resveratrol and oxyresveratrol. Hence, the current study was to evaluate the anti-hepatic fibrosis effects of pterostilbene in direct comparison to two hydroxylated stilbene compounds. In a carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) stimulated hepatic fibrosis model, rats were co-administrated with pterostilbene and hydroxystilbene via gavage feeding. Results revealed that stilbenes exerted significant efficacious protective effects against rat liver fibrosis, by reducing the expression levels of α-SMA, desmin, MMP2 and MMP9 and down-regulating the expression ofTGF-β1, phosphorylated Smad1/2 and ERK1/2 in the liver tissue, among which pterostilbene demonstrated much potent preventive activity than the hydroxylated stilbenes.