Berberine hydrochloride

Journal of Medicinal Plant Research, 2011 , 5 (16) :3702-7.

Antioxidant activities of berberine hydrochloride[Reference: WebLink]

In order to explore the mechanism of Berberine hydrochloride in treating diabetes, antioxidant activities of the Berberine hydrochloride in vitro were carried out.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
In the present study, our study aimed to examine the antioxidant activity of Berberine hydrochloride using different assays including: reducing power, 2,2-diphenyl 1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, ABTS radical scavenging assay, superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results exhibited that Berberine hydrochloride has significant reductive ability and radicals scavenging effects, especially on ABTS, hydroxyl radicals and DPPH radicals.

Int J Nanomedicine. 2011;6:1773-7.

Berberine hydrochloride: anticancer activity and nanoparticulate delivery system.[Pubmed: 21931477 ]

Berberine hydrochloride is a conventional component in Chinese medicine, and is characterized by a diversity of pharmacological effects. However, due to its hydrophobic properties, along with poor stability and bioavailability, the application of Berberine hydrochloride was hampered for a long time. In recent years, the pharmaceutical preparation of Berberine hydrochloride has improved to achieve good prospects for clinical application, especially for novel nanoparticulate delivery systems. Moreover, anticancer activity and novel mechanisms have been explored, the chance of regulating glucose and lipid metabolism in cancer cells showing more potential than ever. Therefore, it is expected that appropriate pharmaceutical procedures could be applied to the enormous potential for anticancer efficacy, to give some new insights into anticancer drug preparation in Chinese medicine.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
We accessed conventional databases, such as PubMed, Scope, and Web of Science, using "Berberine hydrochloride", "anti-cancer mechanism", and "nanoparticulate delivery system" as search words, then summarized the progress in research, illustrating the need to explore reprogramming of cancer cell metabolism using nanoparticulate drug delivery systems.
CONCLUSIONS:
With increasing research on regulation of cancer cell metabolism by Berberine hydrochloride and troubleshooting of issues concerning nanoparticulate delivery preparation, Berberine hydrochloride is likely to become a natural component of the nanoparticulate delivery systems used for cancer therapy. Meanwhile, the known mechanisms of Berberine hydrochloride, such as decreased multidrug resistance and enhanced sensitivity of chemotherapeutic drugs, along with improvement in patient quality of life, could also provide new insights into cancer cell metabolism and nanoparticulate delivery preparation.

J Prosthet Dent. 1990 Dec;64(6):691-4.

Effects of crude drugs and berberine hydrochloride on the activities of fungi.[Pubmed: 2079677]

The effects of crude drugs on fungi have been used for a thousand years in China and Japan. These drugs include: Saussureae radix, Magnoliae cortex, Cinnamomi cortex, Hydrangeae dulcis folium, and Artemisiae capillarius flos. The activity of Coptidis rhizoma and Phellodendri cortex was stronger than other crude drugs against the three fungi.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Berberine hydrochloride, which is a component of the two crude drugs, was investigated. Minimal inhibitory concentration values of Berberine hydrochloride were 1, 0.125, and 0.5 mg/ml against Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. glabrata, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS:
In C. glabrata, compared with C. albicans and C. tropicalis, Berberine hydrochloride greatly inhibited the growth of fungi.

2014 Jan;68(1):53-62.

Berberine inhibits the growth of human colorectal adenocarcinoma in vitro and in vivo[Pubmed: 23604974]

Berberine is an alkaloid isolated from the Chinese herbal medicine Huanglian, and has long been used as an antibiotic. Its antineoplastic properties were subsequently discovered in vitro. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of berberine on the growth of human colorectal carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that berberine inhibited human colorectal adenocarcinoma (LoVo) cell growth in a time- and dose-dependent manner. A WST-1 assay showed that the IC50 value after 72 h was 40.79 ± 4.11 μM. Cell cycle analysis of 40 μM berberine-treated LoVo cells by flow cytometry showed accumulation of cells in the G2/M phase. The inhibition of LoVo cell growth by berberine was associated with the suppression of cyclin B1, cdc2, and cdc25c proteins. Berberine at a dose of 50 mg kg(-1) day(-1) showed inhibitory rates of 45.3% in a human colorectal adenocarcinoma xenograft in nude mice. The combination of berberine and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) had a higher inhibitory rate (59.8%) than the berberine group (36.4%, P = 0.01), but no significant difference was observed between the 5-FU group (43.0%, P = 0.06) and the combination group. These results support the possibility that berberine may be useful as an alternative therapy for colorectal carcinoma.

Int Immunopharmacol. 2015 Jan;24(1):128-32.

Berberine hydrochloride attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced endometritis in mice by suppressing activation of NF-κB signal pathway.[Pubmed: 25479718]

Endometritis is a common disease in animal production and influences breeding all over the world. Berberine is one of the main alkaloids isolated from Rhizoma coptidis. Previous reports showed that berberine has anti-inflammatory potential. However, there have been a limited number of published reports on the anti-inflammatory effect of Berberine hydrochloride on LPS-induced endometritis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of Berberine hydrochloride on LPS-induced mouse endometritis.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Berberine hydrochloride was administered intraperitoneally at 1h before and 12h after LPS induction. Then, a biopsy was performed, and uterine myeloperoxidase (MPO) and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations were determined. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels in the uterus homogenate were measured by ELISA. The extent of IκB-α and P65 phosphorylation was detected by Western blot. The results showed that Berberine hydrochloride significantly attenuated neutrophil infiltration, suppressed myeloperoxidase activity and decreased NO, TNF-αand IL-1βproduction. Furthermore, Berberine hydrochloride inhibited the phosphorylation of the NF-κB p65 subunit and the degradation of its inhibitor, IκBα.
CONCLUSIONS:
These findings suggest that Berberine hydrochloride exerts potent anti-inflammatory effects on LPS-induced mouse endometritis and might be a potential therapeutic agent for endometritis.

J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2014 Jun;349(3):417-26.

Berberine hydrochloride prevents postsurgery intestinal adhesion and inflammation in rats.[Pubmed: 24676878]

Intestinal adhesion, characterized by connection of the loops of the intestine with other abdominal organs by fibrous tissue bands, remains an inevitable event of abdominal operations and can cause a number of complications. Berberine hydrochloride (berberine), a natural plant alkaloid derived from Chinese herbal medicine, is characterized by diverse pharmacological effects, such as anticancer and lower elevated blood glucose. This study is designed to investigate the effects of berberine on adhesion and inflammation after abdominal surgeries and the underlying molecular mechanisms.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Adhesion severity grades and collagen deposition were assessed 14 days after surgery. We evaluated the levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and examined transforming growth factor-activated kinase 1 (TAK1)/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and TAK1/nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling. The surgery group experienced the most severe adhesions, and berberine strikingly reduced the density and severity of adhesion. Results showed significant lower expression of IL-1β, IL-6, TGF-β, TNF-α, and ICAM-1, in berberine groups compared with the operation group. Activities of phosphorylated JNK and phosphorylated NF-κB were inhibited in the berberine groups compared with the surgery group.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our novel findings identified Berberine hydrochloride as a promising strategy to prevent adhesion by downregulating ICAM-1 and reduce inflammation by inhibiting the TAK1/JNK and TAK1/NF-κB signaling after abdominal surgery, which brought out a good therapeutic approach for the development of clinical application for postoperative abdominal adhesion and inflammation.