Berberine exhibits neuroprotective qualities against ischemic brain damage in stroke models - GreenMedInfo Summary
Neuroprotective effects of berberine on stroke models in vitro and in vivo.
Neurosci Lett. 2008 Dec 5 ;447(1):31-6. Epub 2008 Sep 30. PMID: 18838103
Department of Pharmacology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, PR China.
Berberine is an alkaloid derived from herb medicine Coptidis Rhizom. Although there are increasing evidences that berberine exhibits neuroprotective effects against ischemic brain damage, little is known about the mechanism. In this study, we investigated the effect of berberine on ischemic injury in a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. We found that berberine improved neurological outcome and reduced ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced cerebral infarction 48h after MCAO. The protective effect of berberine was confirmed in in vitro study. Berberine protected PC12 cells against oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced injury. The results showed that berberine inhibited reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and subsequent release of pro-apoptotic factor cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factors (AIFs) evoked by OGD. Findings of this study suggest that berberine protects against ischemic brain injury by decreasing the intracellular ROS level and subsequently inhibiting mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.