Autophagy-inducing effect of pterostilbene: AÂ prospective therapeutic/preventive option for skin diseases

•Pterostilbene is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent with preventive properties in skin disorders.•The anti-cancer effects of pterostilbene include inducing apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy.•Pterostilbene is reported to provide an anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor promoting activity in mouse skin.•Induction of autophagy has important effects on the reducing of the inflammatory reaction through eliminating inflammasome.•Pterostilbene could reduce inflammation related skin disorders by reducing inflammation through autophagy.

Pterostilbene is a naturally occurring analog of resveratrol with many health benefits. These health benefits are associated with its antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory effects, and chemopreventive effects attributed to its unique structure. The skin cancer chemopreventive potential of pterostilbene is supported by a variety of mechanistic studies confirming the anti-inflammatory effects in skin cancer models. Molecular biological studies have identified that pterostilbene targets pleotropic signaling pathways, including those involved in mitogenesis, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis. Recently, pterostilbene has been reported to induce autophagy in cancer and normal cells. Through autophagy induction, the inflammatory-related skin diseases can be attenuated. This finding suggests the potential use of pterostilbene in the treatment and prevention of skin disorders via alleviating inflammatory responses by autophagy induction. This review summarizes the protective and therapeutic benefits of pterostilbene in skin diseases from the viewpoint of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and autophagy-inducing effects. Novel underlying mechanisms regarding these effects are discussed. We proposed that pterostilbene, a promising natural product, can be used as a preventive and therapeutic agent for inflammation-related skin disorders through induction of autophagy.

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