Interpretive Summary: Effects of resveratrol and its derivative pterostilbene on hepatic injury and immunological stress of weaned piglets challenged with lipopolysaccharide

By: Yue Li, Hao Zhang, Feng Tu, Jing Cao, Xiang Hou, Yanan Chen, Junshu Yan

Intensive swine production increases the exposure risk of piglets to immunological stress that disrupts hepatic functionality, leading to inferior disease resistance and compromised growth performance. Therefore, it is imperative to seek appropriate nutrients with protective potential to alleviate liver injury of young piglets under the conditions of immunological stress. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of resveratrol and its derivative pterostilbene (PT) to protect the liver from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced immunological stress and inflammatory damage in weaned piglets. In the animal study, PT exhibited significantly better efficacy than its parent compound in alleviating LPS-induced hepatic damage, probably by inhibiting nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) p65 nuclear translocation, Nod-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) and cleaved caspase-1 protein expression, and proinflammatory mediator overproduction. Under cell culture condition, inhibiting protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), a negative regulator of the NF-κB signaling pathway, largely blocked the ability of PT to prevent NF-κB activation, indicating that PT may inhibit NF-κB signals in a PP2A-dependent manner. This study provides novel evidence that PT could serve as a hepatoprotective agent to alleviate hepatic damage and immunological stress in LPS-challenged piglets.