Department of Pharmacology, Pharmacy College, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China.
Phytomedicine. 2012 Jun 15;19(8-9):712-8. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2012.03.003. Epub 2012 Apr 4.
Berberine (BBR) is one of the main constituents in Rhizoma coptidis and it has widely been used for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. The aims of the study were to investigate the effects and mechanism of action of berberine on renal damage in diabetic rats. Diabetes and hyperglycaemia were induced in rats by a high-fat diet and intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). Rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, such as i) control rats, ii) untreated diabetic rats iii) 250 mg/kg metformin-treated, iv and v) 100 and 200 mg/kg berberine-treated diabetic rats and treated separately for 8 weeks. The fasting blood glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, glycosylated hemoglobin were measured in rats. Kidneys were isolated at the end of the treatment for histology, Western blot analysis and estimation of malonaldehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and renal advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). The results revealed that berberine significantly decreased fasting blood glucose, insulin levels, total cholesterol, triglyceride levels, urinary protein excretion, serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in diabetic rats. The histological examinations revealed amelioration of diabetes-induced glomerular pathological changes following treatment with berberine. In addition, the protein expressions of nephrin and podocin were significantly increased. It seems likely that in rats berberine exerts an ameliorative effect on renal damage in diabetes induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin. The possible mechanisms for the renoprotective effects of berberine may be related to inhibition of glycosylation and improvement of antioxidation that in turn upregulate the expressions of renal nephrin and podocin.
小檗碱（BBR）是黄连的主要成分之一，广泛用于治疗糖尿病肾病。本研究旨在探讨小檗碱对糖尿病大鼠肾损伤的作用及其机制。通过高脂肪饮食和腹腔注射 40mg/kg 链脲佐菌素（STZ）诱导大鼠糖尿病和高血糖。大鼠随机分为 5 组，即 i）对照组大鼠、ii）未治疗的糖尿病大鼠、iii）250mg/kg 二甲双胍治疗组、iv 和 v）100 和 200mg/kg 小檗碱治疗的糖尿病大鼠，分别治疗 8 周。在治疗结束时测量大鼠的空腹血糖、胰岛素、总胆固醇、甘油三酯、糖化血红蛋白。分离肾脏进行组织学、Western blot 分析和丙二醛（MDA）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和肾脏晚期糖基化终产物（AGEs）的测定。结果表明，小檗碱可显著降低糖尿病大鼠的空腹血糖、胰岛素水平、总胆固醇、甘油三酯水平、尿蛋白排泄、血清肌酐（Scr）和血尿素氮（BUN）。组织学检查显示，小檗碱治疗可改善糖尿病大鼠肾小球的病理变化。此外，nephrin 和 podocin 的蛋白表达明显增加。似乎在大鼠中，小檗碱对高脂肪饮食和链脲佐菌素诱导的糖尿病引起的肾脏损伤具有改善作用。小檗碱的肾脏保护作用的可能机制与抑制糖基化和改善抗氧化作用有关，从而上调肾脏 nephrin 和 podocin 的表达。
