Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a common metabolic disease, most commonly caused by excessive production or insufficient excretion of uric acid (UA).
Phellodendron has long been used to treat hyperuricemia and pain or related conditions. Its core ingredient, berberine (BBR), has also been proven to be effective in relieving pain and inflammation caused by monosodium urate crystals in vitro and in vivo. Dihydroberberine (DHB) is a hydrogenated derivative of BBR, which has improved efficacy in treating many metabolic diseases in vivo and has good safety profile.
Berberine can regulate multiple pathways, including activating adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase (AMPK), changing the structure of intestinal flora, reducing gluconeogenesis in the liver and enhancing glycolysis in peripheral tissues. It plays the role of weight loss, lowering blood sugar, improving hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance.
The team from Southern Medical University published the article "Anti-Hyperuricemic and Nephroprotective Effects of" in "Frontiers in Pharmacology"
What is dihydroberberine ?
Dihydroberberine in Potassium Oxonate- and Hypoxanthine-Induced Hyperuricemic Mice ", research shows that DHB exerts a uric acid-lowering effect by inhibiting the activation of XOD, URAT1, GLUT9 and NLRP3 inflammasomes in the kidney, and at the same time plays a certain renal protective role.
The study further verified the renal protective effect of DHB through histopathological analysis. In the normal group, the renal tubular epithelial cells of the mice were neatly arranged, the glomeruli were normal in shape and size, and there was no inflammation.
After administration of Dihydroberberine, serum uric acid levels decreased significantly with increasing DHB concentration, and BBR also significantly reduced serum uric acid.
Reference
[1].WANG Z X, XUE Q W,LUO Y X,et al.Research progress on mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine in improving obesity and its related metabolic diseases through gut microbiota[J].Shanghai J Tradit Chin Med,2023,57(2):1-7.
[2].LiuC, Wang Z, Song Y, Wu D, Zheng X, Li P, Jin J, Xu N, Li L. Effects of berberine on amelioration of hyperglycemia andoxidative stress in high glucose and high fat diet-induced diabetic hamsters invivo. Biomed Res Int 2015,2015:313808.
