User:WriterHound/Beberine

Berberine is a plant alkaloid from the group of isoquinoline alkaloids. It is found in such plants as berberis, goldenseal (hydrastis canadensis), and coptis chinensis, usually in the roots, rhizomes, stems, and bark. Berberine is strongly yellow colored, which is why in earlier times berberis species were used to dye wool and leather. Wool is still today died with berberine in Northern India. Under ultraviolet light, berberine shows a strong yellow fluorescence. Because of this it is used in histology for staining heparin in mast cells. As a natural dye berberin has a Colour Index (CI) of 75160. It is the only known natural dye which is basic rather than acidic or neutral.

Occurrence in nature
Husemann writes about the Berberin:



"Berberin is one of the few alkaloids, which is not only distributed across different genres of the same plant family, but also in the most diverse plant families. It is in the Jamaica niche worm bark, the bark of Geoffroya jamaicensis Mur. or Andria inermis Kuth. (Fam. Casealpineae) according to Gastell, in the bark of Xanthoxylum clava Herculis L. (Fam. Xanthoxyleae) to Perrins, Podophyllum peltatum.  Leontice thalictroides and Jeffersonia diphylla (Fam. Papaveraceae) to FF Mayer (Amer. Journ. Pharm XXXV. 97), in the West African Abeocouta bark Coelocline polycarpa De C. (Fam. Anonaceae) according to Stenhouse, in the roots of Hydrastis canadensis L. Xanthorhiza Apiifolia Herit. and Coptis teeta (Family Ranunculaceae) according to Mahla and Perrins in Colombo root, the root of Cocculus palmatus De C. and the Ceylonian Colombo wood, the wood Coscinium fenestratum Colebr. (Fam. Menispermeae) to Bödeker and Perrins, in the root, bark, blossoms, unripe berries and leaves of Berberis vulgaris L. , as well as in the Indian and Mexican Berberis species (Fam. Berberideae) according to Buchner, Polex, Ferrein, Solley, Witt Stein and others, according Perrins finally also in the St. John's roots from the Rio Grande, in the bark of Pachnelo tree of Bogota, in one of the natives Woodunpar called yellow color wood from Upper Assam."

Discovery of berberine
After Husemann isolated hut Schmidt 1824 first from the Jamaica niche worm bark "Jamaicin". And berberine was 1835 by the German pharmacologist Johann Andreas Buchner first time from the root bark of Berberis vulgaris L. were isolated. Gastell but acknowledged 1866 that "Jamaicin" with Berberin identical.

Physiological effects
Counterparts bacteria and amoeba shows Berberin antiseptic. It shows weak antibotische effects. The effect can be estimated by the MDR -Inhibitor 5'-Methoxyhydnocarpin (5'-MHC) exponentiation be. Moreover effect Berberin sedative on the central nervous system. In a number of medical applications seems Berberin ongoing pharmakologisches potential. So it is, or was tested against:
 * Diabetes mellitus
 * Alzheimer's disease
 * Prostate cancer

Berberine and its compounds berberine sulfate and phosphate were often in the Orient intestinal antiseptic oral form. Other systemic effects, such as hypertensive, the secretion of bilirubin - raising, inotrop, sedativ, antiinflammatorisch (inflammatory), dilatierende effect on coronary arteries, antikoagulatorisch, moderate reduction in heart rate, acceleration repairing the Pankreas-ß-Zellen, Low Density Lipoprotein -Cholesterin (LDL-C) lowering, described. In vitro, could mean a Telomerase -Inhibierung determine Also, in vitro the ability of the Beberins than radical be.
 * Breast cancer
 * Heart rhythm disorders
 * Leukemia
 * Skin cancer
 * Lung cancer

It is nutritionally helpful against fungal infections, candida, yeast, parasites, and bacterial/viral infections. Although berberine has been tested and used in diabetes, prostate cancer cell lines, cardiac arrhythmia, and leukemia, it has not been researched thoroughly with humans. Berberine is considered an ineffective antibiotic, but this perception is due to observations of its activity as an isolated compound; when tested in conjunction with other biochemical substances simultaneously as elaborated by the barberry plant, then berberine is indeed an effective antibiotic - promoted by the substances that are responsible for deactivating multidrug resistance pumps in bacteria and restoring the activity of the berberine. As Lewis puts it: "Plants have faced the problem of microbial multidrug resistance for far longer than we have, and their solution is apparently to use a combination of an antibiotic with an MDR inhibitor. Emulating Nature's strategy and potentiating antibiotics with MDR inhibitors can be an effective strategy against drug-resistant microorganisms."

General references

 * "Antimicrobial activity of berberine alone and in combination with ampicillin or oxacillin against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.", J Med Food. 2005 Winter;8(4):454-61.
 * "Cytotoxic effects of Coptis chinensis and Epimedium sagittatum extracts and their major constituents (berberine, coptisine and icariin) on hepatoma and leukemia cell growth.", Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2004 Jan-Feb;31(1-2):65-9.
 * "Cardiovascular actions of berberine.", Cardiovasc Drug Rev. 2001 Fall;19(3):234-44.
 * Web Site of Dr. Kim Lewis: http://www.biology.neu.edu/faculty03/lewis03.html