Modulation of Gut Microbiota and Metabolites by Berberine in Treating Mice With Disturbances in Glucose and Lipid Metabolism

Abstract

Introduction: Glucose and lipid metabolism disturbances has become the third major disease after cancer and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. Emerging evidence shows that berberine can effectively intervene glucose and lipid metabolism disturbances, but the underlying mechanisms of this remain unclear. To investigate this issue, we performed metagenomic and metabolomic analysis in a group of normal mice (the NC group), mice with disturbances in glucose and lipid metabolism (the MC group) and mice with disturbances in glucose and lipid metabolism after berberine intervention (the BER group).Result: Firstly, analysis of the clinical indicators revealed that berberine significantly improved the blood glucose and blood lipid of the host. The fasting blood glucose level decreased by approximately 30% in the BER group after 8 weeks and the oral glucose tolerance test showed that the blood glucose level of the BER group was lower than that of the MC group at any time. Besides, berberine significantly reduced body weight, total plasma cholesterol and triglyceride. Secondly, compared to the NC group, we found dramatically decreased microbial richness and diversity in the MC group and BER group. Thirdly, LDA effect size suggested that berberine significantly altered the overall gut microbiota structure and enriched many bacteria, including Akkermansia (p < 0.01), Eubacterium (p < 0.01) and Ruminococcus (p < 0.01). Fourthly, the metabolomic analysis suggested that there were significant differences in the metabolomics signature of each group. For example, isoleucine (p < 0.01), phenylalanine (p < 0.05), and arbutin (p < 0.05) significantly increased in the MC group, and berberine intervention significantly reduced them. The arbutin content in the BER group was even lower than that in the NC group. Fifthly, by combined analysis of metagenomics and metabolomics, we observed that there were significantly negative correlations between the reduced faecal metabolites (e.g., arbutin) in the BER group and the enriched gut microbiota (e.g., Eubacterium and Ruminococcus) (p < 0.05). Finally, the correlation analysis between gut microbiota and clinical indices indicated that the bacteria (e.g., Eubacterium) enriched in the BER group were negatively associated with the above-mentioned clinical indices (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Overall, our results describe that the changes of gut microbiota and metabolites are associated with berberine improving glucose and lipid metabolism disturbances.

Arbutin improves gut development and serum lipids via Lactobacillus intestinalis

“…However, the abundance of another 21 species of bacteria (such as Bifidobacterium animalis, Bacillus velezensis, Lachnospiraceae bacterium_M18-1, Eubacterium sp_14-2, and Helicobacter ganmani) was significantly reduced. Interestingly, arbutin was reported to reduce colitis symptoms and inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation (41), and there were significant negative correlations between arbutin contents and the enriched gut microbiota (e.g., Eubacterium and Ruminococcus) (42), suggesting that there was bactericidal ability about arbutin.…”

Whole grain germinated brown rice intake modulates the gut microbiota and alleviates hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia in high fat diet-fed mice

“…Metabolites of the gut microbiota such as secondary bile acids, TMAO and LPS have also been reported to be involved in host lipid metabolism. 47,48 The PICRUSt predicted results showed that GBR supply improved energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, which were closely related to metabolism (Fig. S3 †).…”

Efficacy and underlying mechanisms of berberine against lipid metabolic diseases: a review

“…BBR interacts with intestinal microorganisms to derive a variety of metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) ( Fang et al, 2022 ). These derivatives and the signaling pathways they influence have a large impact on lipid levels and, as such, may be used to treat lipid metabolic diseases.…”