Inhibitory action of berberine on glucose absorption / 药学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>AIM</b>To study the absorption characteristics of berberine and its influence on glucose absorption.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rat recirculating perfusion model was used to study berberine absorption characteristics and Caco-2 cell model was used to explore the influence of berberine on disaccharidase, using HPLC to assay the appearance of glucose to indicate enzyme activities.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Berberine was found to be hardly absorbed in the intestine (less than 5% in 2.5 h). However, sucrase and maltase activities were found to be inhibited by berberine, its ID50 to sucrase is 1.830 mg.L-1, and showed no dose dependent influence on maltase activity. Berberine also showed influence on glucose absorption. However, this effect is not significant.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Berberine may act as an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, which is its main mechanism in diabetes treatment.</p>