Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid, inhibits streptozotocin-induced apoptosis in mouse pancreatic islets through down-regulating Bax/Bcl-2 gene expression ratio

Protective effect of berberine on serum glucose levels in non-obese diabetic mice

“…In our previous studies, berberine showed potent antiinflammation potential [5], inhibited streptozotocin-induced apoptosis in mouse pancreatic islets through down-regulating Bax/Bcl-2 gene expression ratio in vitro [19], and protected pancreatic islets in NOD mice in vivo [15]. Dietary berberine at appropriate doses can be easily absorbed and reflected in sera in a dose-dependent manner [15], then enter pancreatic islet β-cells [20], and exert its anti-apoptotic effects possibly using its potent anti-inflammatory [5,21,22], and antioxidant activities [23], as well as down-regulating the Bax/Bcl-2 gene expression ratio [19]. In this study we assumed that berberine in vivo inhibited pancreatic islets apoptosis particularly through its potent anti-inflammation potential [5].…”

Berberine for prevention of dementia associated with diabetes and its comorbidities: A systematic review

“…Both clinical and preclinical studies ( Table 3) have shown that berberine could alleviate insulin resistance and reduce blood glucose [60,72,75,124,139,140], which is likely due to the protection of pancreatic β-cells [56,137,140] and restoration of insulin secretion [56,139,142]. Molecular mechanisms underlying berberine's pancreatic protection include modulation of anti-apoptotic Bax and pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression levels [138], activation of AMPK [139,142], restoration of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) [141] and induction of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) [142]. SIRT1 is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide + -dependent histone deacetylase that plays crucial roles in the protection of pancreatic β-cells against inflammation and oxidative stress [149]; UCP2 regulates redox homeostasis and insulin expression in β-cells.…”

Immunomodulatory effects of barberry’s (Berberis integerrima) ingredients on macrophages: an in-vitro study

“…The cytotoxic effect of high doses of barberry extracts may because they interrupt with culture media conditions or it may be due to barberry ingredient effect on macrophage cells. In previous studies on mouse pancreatic islets treated with berberine, it was indicated that this alkaloid acts as anti-apoptosis in these cells [26], and in other studies, berberine affected the cell cycle and apoptosis of the human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line [27]. Evaluation of NO production by treated macrophages showed that all examined concentrations of aqueous extract suppressed NO production from both stimulated and unstimulated macrophages and also alcoholic extracts inhibited NO release from stimulated macrophages, but in unstimulated cells, just some concentrations (0.001, 1, 10 and 100 μg/mL) of barberry alcoholic extract were effective.…”