• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1143-1150
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• 2010

The antibacterial activity of methanol extracts from 70 kinds of oriental medicinal herbs on four strains of Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis was investigated. The results showed that C. japonica, C. sappan, R. javanica, R. tanguticum, and S. miltiorrhiza had an antibacterial activity on all the strains used. Among these, C. japonica and R. javanica, which showed excellent antibacterial activity, were extracted with water, ethanol, methanol, and ethyl acetate for further study of antibacterial activities. The results showed that the boiled water extract of C. japonica had the best antibacterial activity. Assuming that the antibacterial activity of C. japonica originated from berberine, which has been reported many times, the berberine content of the boiled water extract of C. japonica was analyzed and the result was 13.88%. To compare the antibacterial activity of berberine with that of other antibiotics, berberine chloride and three other kinds of antibiotics were investigated, which showed that berberine chloride had an antibacterial activity on KCCM 35494 S. epidermidis only when the concentration was higher than 600 mg/l, and it did not show antibacterial activity in the other strains. Based on these results, it was concluded that the antibacterial activity of the boiled water extract of C. japonica on the strains used in this study originated from high concentration of berberine or substances other than berberine. Therefore, identification of the substance will be necessary.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.105-110
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• 2018

Objectives : We tried to observe the fluorescence anisotropy and intensity of ethidium ion in the intercalating binding interaction between DNA and ethidium ions in the presence of berberine, and then tried to explain the effect of berberine on the intercalating interaction of ethidium ion with DNA. Methods : DNA(calf thymus DNA), berberine and ethidium bromide(EtBr) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Co. Proper amount of each compound was dissolved in 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer(pH 7.0) containing 100 mM of NaCl to prepare stock solutions. Collections of the fluorescence anisotropy and intensity data were performed on JASCO FP-8300 spectrofluorometer equipped with a polarizer and a Peltier temperature controller. The excitation of ethidium ion was done at 550 nm and the emission data were collected at 600 nm. For Stern-Volmer plot, the fluorescence data were collected at $18^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$. Results : According to the results of this research, the weak competitive binding pattern between ethidium ion and berberine appeared in binding with DNA at low ratio of DNA to ethidium ion. But at high ratio of DNA to ethidium ion, this weak competition disappeared. Instead, berberine might bind to DNA by intercalating way. In other words, berberine could de-intercalate ethidium ion from DNA at low concentration of DNA relative to ethidium ion, but could not at high concentration of DNA relative to ethidium ion. In addition, the mechanism of fluorescence quenching of ethidium ion could also proceed differently, depending on the ratio of the amount of DNA to that of ethidium ion. Conclusions : The effect of berberine on the DNA-ethidium ion intercalating interaction could work differently, depending on the relative ratio of the amount of DNA to that of ethidium ion. This study also showed that fluorescence anisotropy analysis is very useful method to obtain detailed information for investigation of the complex binding interactions. In order to fully understand the mechanism of action of the pharmacological effect by berberine, studies on the effect of berberine on the action of proteins such as various enzymes closely related to berberine-induced medicinal effects should be continued.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 1991

The combined effect of berberine isolated from the bark of Phellodendron amurense and some antibiotics was evaluated in order to measure the antibiotic activities. In this study, in the presence of streptomycin, tetracycline, cephradine as antibiotics, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Shigella sonnei as microorganisms were grown in an Automated Microbiology System. In case of Staphylococus aureus, combination with berberine and cephardine resulted in the strongest synergistic activity and in case of Escherichia coli and Shigella sonnei, combination with berberine and streptomycin resulted in the strongest synergistic activity. The combination with berberine and antibiotics increased the antibiotic activities, thereby showing a synergistic action.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.165-172
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• 2019

Berberine has been used clinically for more than a decade to treat various diseases, has been shown to be effective in osteoblast differentiation, and is a potential treatment option for osteoporosis. However, compared with existing osteoporosis drugs, berberine is somewhat less effective. This study aimed to identify a new compound with efficacy superior to that of berberine. The osteogenic activities of various berberine derivatives were evaluated via cell differentiation in C2C12 preosteoblast cell lines. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining assay and structure-activity relationship demonstrated that compound 2b had a potent osteogenic effect. Furthermore, compound 2b dose dependently increased ALP activity and showed no toxicity at the effective concentration, indicating its efficacy. Additionally, compound 2b upregulated BMP2-induced transcriptional activity in a promoter activity assay using ALP, BSP, and OC promoters.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.391-394
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• 2002

Berberine and berberrubine, which display antitumor activity, have also demonstrated distinct enzyme-poisoning activities by stabilizing topoisomerase Ⅱ-DNA cleavable complexes. The protoberberine berberrubine differs in chemical structure with berberine at only one position, however, it shows a prominent activity difference from berberine. Solution structures of berberine and berberrubine determined by NMR spectroscopy are similar, however, the minor structural rearrangement has been observed near 19 methoxy or hydroxyl group. We suggest that the DNA cleavage activities of topoisomerase Ⅱ poisons could be correlated with both chemical environments and minor structural change together with hydrophobicity of interacting side chains of drugs with DNA molecule.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.544-551
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• 2020

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simultaneous analytical method for berberine and palmatine, which are representative substances of Phellodendron amurense, and to evaluate the antioxidant activity. We evaluated the specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ) of analytical methods for berberine and palmatine using high-performance liquid chromatography. Our result showed that the correlation coefficients of the calibration curve for berberine and palmatine exhibited 0.9999. The LODs for berberine and palmatine were 0.32 to 0.35 µg/mL and the LOQs were 0.97 to 1.06 µg/mL, respectively. The inter-day and intra-day precision values for berberine and palmatine were from 0.12 to 1.93 and 0.19 to 2.89%, respectively. The inter-day and intra-day accuracies were 98.43-101.45% and 92.39-100.60%, respectively. In addition, the simultaneous analytical method was validated for the detection of berberine and palmatine. Moreover, we conducted FRAP and NaNO2 scavenging activity assays to measure the antioxidant activities of berberine and palmatine, and both showed antioxidant activity. These results suggest that P.amurense could be a potential natural resource for antioxidant activity and that the efficacy can be confirmed by investigating the content of the berberine and palmatine.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.9 no.3_4
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• pp.37-38
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• 1965

A quaternary base, berberine (HCl salt) was isolated and identified from Thalictrum tuberiferum Max.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.141-147
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• 2013

It has been established that berberine has strong antimicrobial effects. Little is known however regarding the antimicrobial activity of berberine against endodontic pathogenic bacteria or its cytotoxicity in human oral tissue cells. The antibacterial properties of berberine were tested against 5 strains of Enterococcus faecalis and type strains of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella nigrescens, Prevotella intermedia, and Tannerella forsythia, which are involved in endodontic infections. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated through minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) measurements. The viability of normal human gingival fibroblast (NHGF) cells after exposure to berberine was measured using a methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. The data showed that berberine has antimicrobial effects against A. actinomycetemcomitans with an MIC and MBC of $12.5{\mu}g/ml$ and $25{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. In the cytotoxicity studies, cell viability was maintained at 66.1% following exposure to $31.3{\mu}g/ml$ berberine. Overall, these findings suggest that berberine has antimicrobial activity against the tested bacteria. Nevertheless, lower concentrations in combination with other reagents will need to be tested before these in vitro results can be translated to clinical use.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2015

Our previous study has shown berberine prevents damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier during early phase of sepsis in rat through mechanisms independent of the NOD-like receptors signaling pathway. In this study, we explored the regulatory effects of berberine on Toll-like receptors during the intestinal mucosal damaging process in rats. Male Sprague-Dawlay (SD) rats were treated with berberine for 5 d before undergoing cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) to induce polymicrobial sepsis. The expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR 2), TLR 4, TLR 9, the activity of nuclear factor-kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$), the levels of selected cytokines and chemokines, percentage of cell death in intestinal epithelial cells, and mucosal permeability were investigated at 0, 2, 6, 12 and 24 h after CLP. Results showed that the tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) level were significantly lower in berberine-treated rats compared to the control animals. Conversely, the expression level of tight junction proteins, percentage of cell death in intestinal epithelial cells and the mucosal permeability were significantly higher in berberine-treated rats. The mRNA expression of TLR 2, TLR 4, and TLR 9 were significantly affected by berberine treatment. Our results indicate that pretreatment with berberine attenuates tissue injury and protects the intestinal mucosal barrier in early phase of sepsis and this may possibly have been mediated through the TLRs pathway.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.158-166
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of berberine on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We searched seven electronic databases for studies through October 2022. All randomized controlled trials (RTCs) of berberine were included. Data extraction and risk of bias assessments were performed by two independent reviewers. The RevMan 5.4.1 program was used for meta-analysis. Results: A total of 279 relevant studies were identified, and 6 eligible RCTs were included to study the efficacy berberine on NAFLD. The six selected trials are studies on the effect between berberine and conventional treatment combined treatment versus conventional treatment. Liver function tests, blood lipid levels, and blood glucose levels were assessed. Combination treatment with berberine, ursodeoxycholate acid, metformin, and monascus purpureus showed statistically significant improvements in liver function levels, blood lipid levels, and blood glucose levels compared to conventional treatment alone. However, there was no significant efficacy of berberine combination dietary, exercise than control group on NAFLD. The meta-analysis results of examining 4 RCTs comparing the therapeutic efficacy of berberine showed statistically significant improvement in the liver function test, blood lipids levels, blood glucose levels. Conclusions: This study suggests that berberine has positive efficacy on blood lipids, blood glucose liver function, fatty liver condition of NAFLD. However, the level of evidence is low because of small effect size,so further investigation is needed.