Role of berberine in ameliorating Schistosoma mansoni-induced hepatic injury in mice

Abstract

BackgroundSchistosomiasis is caused by helminth parasites of the genus Schistosoma. Berberine chloride (BER), an isoquinoline alkaloid, has been used in vivo for its antiparasitic, antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties. In this study, the protective effect of BER and praziquantel has been compared for the extent of schistosomiasis-induced oxidative stress in hepatic tissue of mice.ResultsS. mansoni was able to induce inflammation and injury to the liver, evidenced (i) by an increase in inflammatory cellular infiltrations, dilated sinusoids and vacuolated hepatocytes, (ii) by decreased levels of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases and increased levels of alkaline phosphatase, γ-glutamyl transferase in the liver homogenate, (iii) by increased production of nitric oxide and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, and (iv) by lowered glutathione levels and decreased activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase, respectively. All these infection-induced parameters were significantly altered during BER treatment. In particular, berberine counteracted the S. mansoni-induced loss of glutathione and the activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase.ConclusionBased on these results, it is concluded that berberine could ameliorate pre-existing liver damage and oxidative stress conditions due to schistosomiasis.

Ceratonia siliqua pod extract ameliorates Schistosoma mansoni-induced liver fibrosis and oxidative stress

“…This may be due to necrosis, with increased leakage of these enzymes from hepatocytes to the blood and replacement of normal liver tissue with granuloma lesions around entrapped schistosome eggs. Our data are in accordance with those of other authors [31, 40] who reported decreased AST and ALT levels in liver homogenates of S. mansoni -infected mice with concomitant increases in serum transaminases. The increase in enzyme activity is attributed to the irritation of liver cells by toxins or metabolic products of growing worms, adult worms and eggs [41].…”

Berberis Vulgaris and Berberine: An Update Review

“…Several studies show that berberine via its antioxidant activity exerts beneficial effects on Schistosoma mansoni ‐induced organ toxicity in splenic (Al‐Quraishy et al ., ), hepatic (Dkhil, ), renal and testicular tissues of mice (Dkhil et al , ).…”

Anti‐influenza activity of berberine improves prognosis by reducing viral replication in mice

“…BBR is widely distributed and inexpensive, so clinical and academic institutions conducted extensive research on it. In recent years, with the in‐depth study of BBR, BBR has been found to have a wide range of pharmacological effects (Imenshahidi & Hosseinzadeh, ), including hypoglycemic (Pang et al, ), hypolipidemic (Li, Jiang, & Kong, ), hypotension (Guo, Sun, Zhang, & Zhang, ), antidepressant (Sun et al, ), anti‐inflammatory (Liu, Yin, Ding, Wang, & Wang, ), antiviral (Shin et al, ), antibacterial (Peng et al, ), and antiparasitic (Dkhil, ), and other pharmacological activities.…”