The Effects of Berberine on Blood Lipids: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Open accessAbstract
Clinical trials have reported lipid-lowering effects of berberine intake, but the findings have been inconsistent. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the safety of berberine and its effects on blood lipid profiles. A systemic review was designed, undertaken and reported in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Randomized controlled trials of the effects of berberine on blood lipids in adults were included. Study population characteristics and the main results, including changes in the levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, were extracted. Weighted mean differences were calculated for net changes in blood lipid concentrations using fixed-effect or random-effects models. After filtering, eleven randomized controlled trials (including a total of 874 participants) were included in this study. The methodological quality of these studies was generally low. The final analysis showed that administration of berberine produced a significant reduction in total cholesterol (mean difference - 0.61 mmol/L; 95 % confidence interval - 0.83 to - 0.39), triglycerides (mean difference - 0.50 mmol/L; 95 % confidence interval - 0.69 to - 0.31), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mean difference - 0.65 mmol/L; 95 % confidence interval - 0.76 to - 0.54) levels, with a remarkable increase in high-density lipoprotein (mean difference 0.05 mmol/L; 95 % confidence interval 0.02 to 0.09). No serious adverse effects of berberine have been reported. In conclusion, berberine may have beneficial effects in the control of blood lipid levels. However, the efficacy of berberine in treating hyperlipidemia should be further evaluated by more randomized controlled trials in a larger population of patients.
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Prior reviews of berberine have limitations including that they included studies that did not make comparisons to placebo, compared berberine to diverse controls, assessed extracts from the barberry plant, or defined the intervention as combination nutraceutical products containing berberine.
“Prior reviews of berberine have several limitations as they included studies that did not make comparisons to placebo, compared berberine to diverse controls (e.g., statins, oral hypoglycemics, lifestyle modification), assessed extracts from the barberry plant or defined the intervention as combination nutraceutical products containing berberine such as Armolipid Plus®.(7-13)”
From Overall and sex-specific effect of berberine for dyslipidemia: systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials (2022) · cites this paper as [7]
The Study selection section reports that the review included trials without placebo comparisons and used several control regimens, including oral hypoglycemics and simvastatin. But those drugs were generally given to both groups, rather than compared head-to-head with berberine. The Selection criteria section explicitly excludes berberine-containing herbs and herbal extracts and defines berberine as a single chemical entity, so the claims about barberry extracts and combination nutraceutical products do not apply to this review. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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“hypoglycemics, lifestyle modification), assessed extracts from the barberry plant or defined the intervention as combination nutraceutical products containing berberine such as Armolipid Plus®.(7-13) Moreover, the bioavailability of the different berberine preparations is a matter of .”
BackgroundMethod
- Authors
- Dong, H., Zhao, Y., Zhao, L., & Lu, F.
- Affiliations
- Tongji Hospital (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Lu, Fuer
- Venue
- Planta Medica
- Publisher
- Georg Thieme Verlag KG
- Published
- 2013-03-19
- Volume
- 79
- Issue
- 06
- Pages
- 437-446
- ISSN
- 0032-0943 (ISSN-L)
- 1439-0221
- OpenAlex
- W2162698740
- Cited by
- 171
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Planta Medica (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Berberine and alkaloids research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Natural Products and Biological Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Lipoproteins and Cardiovascular Health
- Keywords
- berberine, serum lipids, hypolipidemic effect, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, hyperlipidemia, herbal medicine safety, adverse effects
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Berberine, Cholesterol, Humans, Hyperlipidemias, Lipids, Lipoproteins, HDL, Lipoproteins, LDL, Triglycerides, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
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