HN-00310079_Herbal Medicine Against Obesity: A Review of Therapeutic Effects and Mechanisms of Berberine on Obesity

Introduction: Today obesity is a worldwide health problem, which caused by energy intake and energy expenditure imbalance. Obesity, directly andindirectly, is associated with many diseases like hypertension, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver. Berberine is a natural ammonium alkaloid salt found in many plants like Oregon-Grape, Tree Turmeric, Barberry, etc. Some studies mentioned the beneficial effects of berberine on obesity treatment. Here we review the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of berberine on obesity.Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in electronic databases Embase, Pubmed, Scopus and Web of science with the keywords Berberine and Obesity from 2010 to 2019. Original articles that mentioned berberine therapeutic effects and mechanisms on obesity were included in the study.Results: Both in vitro and in vivo studies show that berberine can increase metabolism and energy expenditure via its effect on brown adipose tissue. Animal and in vitro studies determined that 5 adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway is responsible for brown adipogenesis and thermogenesis, in detail increase in mRNA levels of brown fat markers and adipogenic genes, uncoupling protein-1 and PRDM16 levels expression upregulation andincrease in oxygen consumption rate were seen after berberine treatment in animal models.Conclusion: Due to the effects of berberine, especially on brown adipose tissue, its consumption seems to be beneficial against obesity, although paying attention to the berberine s side effects is necessary. Further studies are needed to prove definitively the effects of berberine on the treatment of obesity.

کلیدواژه ها:

berberine ، brown adipose tissue ، obesity