Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 187th Hospital of PLA, Haikou, China.
Med Sci Monit. 2011 Jul;17(7):RA164-7. doi: 10.12659/msm.881842.
Berberine, one of the main constituents of a Chinese traditional herb used to treat bacterial diarrhea, has an effect of lowering glucose, which has been recently confirmed by many studies. However, the mechanism of berberine's antidiabetic effect has not yet been well explained. Recent evidence suggests that the gut microbiota composition is associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes, which are closely associated with a low-grade inflammatory state. The protective effect against diabetes of gut microbiota modulation with probiotics or antibiotics has been confirmed in recent observations. Berberine has significant antimicrobial activity against several microbes through inhibiting the assembly function of FtsZ and halting the bacteria cell division. Because berberine acts topically in the gastrointestinal tract and it is poorly absorbed, berberine might modulate gut microbiota without systemic anti-infective activity. Our hypothesis is that gut microbiota modulation may be one mechanism of the antidiabetic effect of berberine. Our hypothesis may provide a novel explanation for berberine's therapeutic effect in patients with diabetes mellitus.
小檗碱是一种中国传统草药的主要成分，用于治疗细菌性腹泻，它具有降低血糖的作用，这一点最近已经被许多研究证实。然而，小檗碱的降血糖作用机制尚未得到很好的解释。最近的证据表明，肠道微生物群的组成与肥胖和 2 型糖尿病有关，而肥胖和 2 型糖尿病与低度炎症状态密切相关。最近的观察结果证实，用益生菌或抗生素调节肠道微生物群对糖尿病有保护作用。小檗碱通过抑制 FtsZ 的组装功能和阻止细菌细胞分裂，对几种微生物具有显著的抗菌活性。由于小檗碱在胃肠道局部作用，且吸收不良，小檗碱可能调节肠道微生物群而不具有全身抗感染活性。我们的假设是，肠道微生物群的调节可能是小檗碱降血糖作用的机制之一。我们的假设可能为小檗碱治疗糖尿病患者的疗效提供了一种新的解释。
