A few centimeters below ground, roots of Chinese goldthread tirelessly manufacture Olympic ring-like structures made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and chlorine into a chemical compound called berberine hydrochloride.
Berberine has been known to reduce blood sugar, improve heart health, and ameliorate obesity, but the exact mechanism has remained elusive. In a new paper published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, Anil Poudel and colleagues from Central Michigan University put the tiny chemical compound under a battery of experiments. Their paper unlocks the chemical’s potential in battling metabolic syndrome—a cluster of diseases including obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.
Chinese goldthread is one of the 50 fundamental herbs of traditional Chinese medicine, and the first recorded medicinal use of berberine dates back almost 2000 years. Other plants that produce berberine include barberry, prickly poppy, and tree turmeric. The new research could potentially help scientists develop novel therapeutic interventions for people suffering from metabolic syndrome.
According to the 2017 World Obesity Federation report, a third of Earth’s population is overweight and obese. By 2025, 34% of adults in Canada will live with obesity. Treating obesity-related health problems costs Canada roughly $34 billion each year. Troublingly, only 40 out of almost 80,000 physicians in the country are formally trained and certified to address obesity and weight management.
When the body is under attack, the immune system secretes chemicals known as cytokines, chemical messengers that coordinate communication between the immune system and damaged tissues. Cytokines help flush out pathogens or restore body functions to normal levels. This, in a nutshell, is known as an inflammatory response. Poudel and his team set about to study the anti-inflammatory effects of berberine, which were well documented but poorly understood.
The authors examined cells that eventually form the body’s muscles. Importantly, these cells metabolize almost 80% of the body’s glucose—some with insulin’s help and others independent of it.
People suffering from obesity have abnormal inflammatory responses and produce high amounts of cytokines. The high concentration of cytokines can cause insulin resistance—a major contributor to type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
To find out just how berberine saves the day, Poudel and his colleagues bathed muscle cells in a broth of pro-inflammatory cytokines together with berberine.
They found that berberine boosted anti-inflammatory pathways—specifically, they identified the exact sequence of chemicals that berberine communicates with to effectively shut down the abnormal immune response or, in some cases, even reverse it.
Cytokines also reduce almost 70% of mitochondrial function leading to muscle weakness and lethargy. The authors discovered that berberine restores mitochondrial function and pinpointed the exact biochemical pathways.
Ultimately, Poudel and his team found that berberine’s fight against diabetes and metabolic syndrome is a delicate balance among multiple chemical signals, holding some back while encouraging others to step up.
The intricate process, clearly outlined for the first time, may be the first therapeutic targets of berberine in treating insulin resistance.
Read the full study: Berberine hydrochloride protects against cytokine-induced inflammation through multiple pathways in undifferentiated C2C12 myoblast cells in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology.