Research Uncovers Pterostilbenes Benefits

According to recent research conducted by USDAs Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), pterostilbene, a compound in blueberries and grapes, might help inhibit breast cancer, diabetes and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad) cholesterol. The results of this research were published in the Nov./Dec. issue of Agricultural Research magazine (see http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov06/health1106.htm).

The more we study pterostilbene, the more we see its huge potential in the human health field, says chemist Agnes Rimando, the Natural Products Utilization Research Laboratory, Oxford, MS, who has been studying the compound for several years.

Pterostilbene is a derivative of resveratrol, a compound found concentrated in the red-grape skins. Research has shown that resveratrol has cardiovascular and potential cancer-fighting benefits, and has taken center stage in analyses of the French Paradox.

In the early 1990s, Rimando isolated pterostilbene from red sandalwood to study its fungicidal and antidiabetic properties, including its potential for lowering blood glucose. At that time, I found it to be toxic to a few cancer cell lines, especially breast cancer cells, she says. Later, I had a renewed interest in whether pterostilbene might inhibit cancer when resveratrol was reported to have cancer-preventive activity.

In 2002 during laboratory-animal studies, pterostilbene showed cancer-fighting properties at similar concentrations as resveratrol. She and fellow researchers also found that pterostilbene has powerful antioxidant capabilities. Later, in 2004, she and fellow colleagues announced that pterostilbene had been detected in blueberries. The compound was already known to exist in small amounts in red-skinned grapes.

Recent studies have shown that pterostilbene can help lower cholesterol and help prevent heart disease. In some animal studies, pterostilbene had similar activity to ciprofibrate, a commercial drug that lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

In her latest studies, Rimando and fellow scientists showed pterostilbenes potential as a cancer-inhibiting compound. Pterostilbene showed strong inhibitory activitymuch more than resveratrol, she says, noting that more studies are needed to explain this process.