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Heart health benefits of pterosilbene.


Park and co-workers at the Chungbuk National University, Republic of Korea, explored the effect of pterostilbene on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, induced by platelet-derived growth factor [1]. They found that pterostilbene inhibited the DNA synthesis and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells in a dose-dependent manner, which may be mediated by the suppression of Akt kinase. The phytochemical may be a potential anti-proliferative agent for the treatment of atherosclerosis and restenosis after angioplasty.



An in-vivo study conducted the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USA, found that pterostilbene acts as a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha agonist and that it was more active that resveratrol [2]. Their in-vivo studies with hypercholesterolemic hamsters showed that the phytochemical possesses lipid and glucose lowering effects. Feeding these hamsters with pterostilbene resulted in 29% reduction in low density lipoprotein cholesterol, 7% increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol and 14% reduction in glucose level.

[1] Pterostilbene, a natural dimethylated analog of resveratrol, inhibits rat aortic vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation by blocking Akt-dependent pathway. Vascul Pharmacol. 2010 Jul-Aug;53(1-2):61-7.
[2] Pterostilbene, a new agonist for the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha-isoform, lowers plasma lipoproteins and cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic hamsters. J Agric Food Chem. 2005 May 4;53(9):3403-7.




 
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