Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
Medical and Surgical Sciences Department, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
J Cell Biochem. 2018 Dec;119(12):9655-9663. doi: 10.1002/jcb.27392. Epub 2018 Aug 20.
Gastrointestinal cancers are among the most prevalent cancers in the general population. Despite effective early diagnostics and intervention, the gastrointestinal cancer-related mortality still remains elevated. Berberine (BBR) is a benzyl tetra isoquinoline alkaloid exracted from several plants. BBR is nontoxic to human normal cells, but suppresses the growth of different tumor cells: melanoma, epidermoid carcinoma, hepatoma, oral carcinoma, glioblastoma, prostatic carcinoma, and gastric carcinoma. In particular, BBR seems to suppress the proliferation of gastrointestinal cancers in a number of preclinical models. Several mechanisms of action have been hypothesized and demonstrated: immunomodulation, inhibition of topoisomerase enzymes, suppression of the EGF receptor, Her2/neu, and the VEGF receptor, induction of p53, Cip1/p21, Kip1/p27, Rb expression, induction of apoptosis (by regulation of MMPs pathway, caspases, Bax, and Smac/DIABLO), inhibition of arylamin N-acetyltransferase activity, and regulation of microRNAs expression. The aim of this review is to summarize the pharmacological effects of BBR on animal and human gastrointestinal cancers.
胃肠道癌是常见的癌症类型之一。尽管早期诊断和干预措施有效，但胃肠道癌相关死亡率仍然居高不下。小檗碱（BBR）是从几种植物中提取的苄基四异喹啉生物碱。BBR 对人类正常细胞无毒，但能抑制不同肿瘤细胞的生长：黑色素瘤、表皮样癌、肝癌、口腔癌、胶质母细胞瘤、前列腺癌和胃癌。特别是，BBR 似乎能抑制多种临床前模型中的胃肠道癌的增殖。已经假设并证明了几种作用机制：免疫调节、拓扑异构酶酶抑制、EGF 受体、Her2/neu 和 VEGF 受体抑制、p53、Cip1/p21、Kip1/p27、Rb 表达诱导、细胞凋亡诱导（通过调节 MMPs 途径、半胱天冬酶、Bax 和 Smac/DIABLO）、芳香胺 N-乙酰转移酶活性抑制和 microRNAs 表达调控。本综述旨在总结 BBR 对动物和人类胃肠道癌的药理作用。
