ABSTRACT
In recent years the scientific community has paid a great deal of attention to phenolic antioxidant substances as active bio-molecules present naturally in foods for the treatment of different diseases. The current study was conducted to investigate the dietary benefit of Pterostilbene (PTS) on Tobacco (NNK)-mediated lung injury. This experiment was conducted with 40 rats, distributed in 4 experimental groups;Control group, NNK group, PTS group, and NNK plus PTS group. NNK-group showed marked disrupted lung structure with collapsed alveoli, alveolar hyperplasia, congested blood vessels, extravasated erythrocytes, inflammatory cell infiltration, and deposition of collagen fibers. A marked elevation in the positive area percentage of immune reactions of iNOS, CD68, and Caspase-3 in NNK-treated group was recorded, as compared with the control group. Moreover, NNK administration caused a significant reduction in CAT and SOD levels associated with a significant increase in the concentrations of MDA, GM-CSF, TNF-α, IL-6, Total cholesterol, and triglycerides in serum. These effects were substantially improved after co-administration of NNK plus PTS, preserved nearly normal lung architecture, normalized the antioxidant status, and most of the biochemical, histological, and immunohistochemical parameters, by ameliorating histological alterations in lung tissue, increasing antioxidant activities, and decreasing inflammatory cytokines. The administration of NNK caused a significant lung injury, which could be ultimately ameliorated by concomitant treatment with PTS. These results suggest that PTS mediates the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects against lung injury and might be a promising assistant treatment agent against COVID-19.