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Effect of berberine on glucolipid metabolism, carotid thickness, vascular endothelial function, oxidative stress and intestinal flora in patients with coronary heart disease


Fengming Yang
Chuiyi Zeng
Zhenyi Chen

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of berberine on glucolipid metabolism, carotid thickness, vascular endothelial function, oxidative stress  and intestinal flora in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients.


Methods: 68 patients with CHD admitted to the Department of  Cardiology, Henan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China were assigned to two groups of 34 patients each. Control  group received anti-CHD treatment while study group was given 0.3 g of berberine three times daily for 4 weeks. Changes in glucolipid  metabolism, carotid thickness, vascular endothelial function, oxidative stress and intestinal flora were assessed.


Results: Total  cholesterol, triglyceride, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-1β of CHD patients from study group were significantly  decreased compared to control group (p < 0.05) while superoxide dismutase (p = 0.019) and total antioxidant capacity (p = 0.009) of CHD  patients in study group were significantly increased. In addition, reduced endothelin-1 and elevated Nitric Oxide levels were shown in  CHD patients in study group (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the carotid intima-media thickness decreased in study group, while Aquificae,  Paraprevotella, Abiotrophia, Rubrobacterales, Bacteroidales and other microbes were abundant in the intestinal tract of study group  patients.


Conclusion: Berberine improves glucolipid metabolism, carotid thickness, vascular endothelial function, oxidative stress and  intestinal flora in CHD patients. Berberine may therefore be effective in the treatment of CHD. Further studies are, however, required to  establish these claims. 


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1596-9827
print ISSN: 1596-5996