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REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1455058

Advances in the pharmacological mechanisms of berberine in the treatment of fibrosis

Provisionally accepted
Xiaoqin Liu Xiaoqin Liu 1,2Liang Qingzhi Liang Qingzhi 1,2Yifan Wang Yifan Wang 3Shuai Xiong Shuai Xiong 1,2Rensong Yue Rensong Yue 1,2*
  • 1 Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 2 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
  • 3 Other, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The rising incidence of fibrosis poses a major threat to global public health, and the continuous exploration of natural products for the effective treatment of fibrotic diseases is crucial. Berberine (BBR), an isoquinoline alkaloid, is widely used clinically for its anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-fibrotic pharmacological effects. Until now, researchers have worked to explore the mechanisms of BBR for the treatment of fibrosis, and multiple studies have found that BBR attenuates fibrosis through different pathways such as TGF-β/Smad, AMPK, Nrf2, PPAR-γ, NF-κB, and Notch/snail axis. This review describes the anti-fibrotic mechanism of BBR and its derivatives, and the safety evaluation and toxicity studies of BBR. This provides important therapeutic clues and strategies for exploring new drugs for the treatment of fibrosis. Nevertheless, more studies, especially clinical studies, are still needed. We believe that with the continuous implementation of high-quality studies, significant progress will be made in the treatment of fibrosis.

    Keywords: berberine1, fibrosis2, Natural product3, Pharmacological mechanisms 4, Treatment5

    Received: 26 Jun 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Qingzhi, Wang, Xiong and Yue. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rensong Yue, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.