Pterostilbene reverses palmitic acid mediated insulin resistance in HepG2 cells by reducing oxidative stress and triglyceride accumulation

Insulin resistance (IR) is known to precede onset of type 2 diabetes and increased oxidative stress appears to be a deleterious factor leading to IR. In this study, we evaluated ability of pterostilbene (PTS), a methoxylated analogue of resveratrol and a known antioxidant, to reverse palmitic acid (PA)-mediated IR in HepG2 cells. PTS prevented reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and subsequent oxidative lipid damage by reducing the expression of NADPH oxidase 3 (NOX3) in PA treated HepG2 cells. Hepatic glucose production was used as a measure of IR and PTS reversed PA-mediated increase in hepatic glucose production by reducing expression of genes coding for gluconeogenic enzymes namely glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and pyruvate carboxylase (PC); and their transcription factors cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) and fork head class Box O (FOXO1) along with its coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator-1 alpha (PGC1 alpha). PTS reversed PA-mediated activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which in turn altered insulin signalling pathway by phosphorylating IRS-1 at Ser 307, leading to inhibition of phosphorylation of Akt and GSK-3 beta. PTS also reduced PA-mediated lipid accumulation by reducing expression of transcription factors SREBP1c and PPAR alpha. SREBP1c activates genes involved in fatty acid and triglyceride synthesis while PPAR alpha activates CPT1, a rate limiting enzyme for controlling entry and oxidation of fatty acids into mitochondria. PTS, however, did not influence PA uptake confirmed by using BODIPY-labelled fluorescent C16 fatty acid analogue. Thus, our data provides a possible mechanistic explanation for reversal of PA-mediated IR in HepG2 cells.