What is Berberine?
Berberine is a vegetable alkaloid particularly active in the reduction of cholesterolemia. This substance - with a bitter taste and an intense yellow color - is present in the bark, roots and stems, including underground ones (rhizome), of plants belonging to the genus Berberis, such as barberry ( Berberis vulgaris L.).
Property of Berberine
Due to its antimicrobial and ascrittel antisecretive properties, the traditional use of berberine is aimed at treating infections of various kinds, such as bacterial diarrhea and recurrent infections with Candida albicans .
For some years, however, the spotlight has focused on the cholesterol-lowering and hypoglycemic properties of berberine.
In this sense, this substance rose to headlines in 2004, with the study published in Nature Medicine by Kong, Wei J, Abidi et al. ( Berberine is a novel cholesterol-lowering drug working through a unique mechanism distinct from statins ). During this research, berberine - taken orally by 32 hypercholesterolemic patients for three months - reduced plasma cholesterol by 29%, triglycerides by 35% and LDL cholesterol by 25%.
Particularly encouraging data, therefore, that in a short time led to painting berberine as a possible natural alternative to statins .
MAIN PROPERTIES OF BERBERINA
- antiarrhythmic
- antibiotic
- cholesterol-lowering
- Hypoglycemic
Action Mechanism
However, the mechanism by which this substance reduces plasma cholesterol levels differs from that of statins. While these drugs decrease the synthesis of endogenous cholesterol, berberine increases the activity and the number of hepatic receptors for LDL, facilitating the removal of "bad cholesterol" from the blood.
The association of berberine with statins may still produce an interesting synergistic effect, also due to its ability to inhibit a protein ( PCSK9 ) responsible for the partial degradation of LDL receptors in the liver (which statins tend to promote instead).
In more recent times, new studies have highlighted the hypoglycemic efficacy of berberine in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Also in this sense the substance seems to act mainly at the receptor level, increasing the expression of the insulin receptors, with increased sensitivity to this hormone and reduced insulin resistance.
Side effects
The multiplicity of beneficial actions, the ability to operate at multiple levels and the absence of significant side effects, contribute to making berberine one of the most interesting supplements of the moment, on which the research of numerous scholars is concentrated. Meanwhile, on the market, the first products based on berberine have already appeared, where it is often associated with other substances with similar activity, such as red fermented rice, policosanols and silymarin.
At commonly used dosages, berberine is well tolerated; at high doses, it can cause gastrointestinal disorders, shortness of breath, drop in blood pressure, flu-like symptoms and cardiac changes.
As a precautionary measure, its use in pregnancy and in children is not recommended.