Protective Effects of Pterostilbene Against Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Pterostilbene (PTB) has been suggested to protect against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury. Gas6/Axl signaling has been suggested to play an important role in cell survival. However, the interaction between PTB and Gas6/Axl signaling in MI/R remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the role of Gas6/Axl signaling in the protective effects of PTB against MI/R injury. In experiment 1, the rats were subjected to 30 min of ischemia, followed by 3, 6, and 12 h of reperfusion, respectively. In experiment 2, the rats were administered intraperitoneally with PTB or vehicle and subjected to MI/R injury. The results suggested that the expression of Gas6 and Axl decreased significantly after MI/R injury. PTB treatment conferred a cardioprotective effect with an improved post-ischemic cardiac function, a reduced myocardial infarct size, and decreased lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase-MB in the serum, a decreased oxidative stress and inflammation, and a reduced number of apoptotic cardiomyocytes. Moreover, PTB treatment up-regulated the expression of Gas6, Axl, and Bcl-2 and down-regulated Bax expression. Our findings suggest that PTB treatment exerts cardioprotection against MI/R injury via attenuating inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and apoptosis and up-regulating the expression of Gas6 and Axl. The application of PTB may be a new strategy for the treatment of MI/R injury.