Guest guest Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 OK I typed in Chinese Herbs to Health News and got this recent article: Chinese Herb Lowers Cholesterol in New Way November 11, 2004 02:13:16 PM PST , Reuters Berberine, an herb used in traditional Chinese medicine, lowers LDL ( " bad " ) cholesterol and works in a way that is distinct from statin drugs like Lipitor (news - web sites) or Zocor, a new study shows. Because the herb works in a different way, it could potentially be combined with a statin to reduce cholesterol levels even further. Dr. Jian-Dong Jiang of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and colleagues describe their animal and human studies of berberine in the journal Nature Medicine. The drug is traditionally used as an over-the-counter remedy for diarrhea caused by bacterial infection. Statins work by blocking cholesterol formation in liver cells. This cholesterol shortage causes more cholesterol receptors -- hook-like molecules -- to appear on the cell surface in an effort to pull cholesterol from the blood to make up for the deficit. As a result, blood cholesterol levels drop. In contrast, berberine works in a way that doesn't depend on how much cholesterol is in the cell, Jiang told Reuters Health. Like statins, the herb increases the number of cholesterol receptors on the cell surface, but it does this by stabilizing and improving the process by which the receptors are formed. Jiang and colleagues screened 700 Chinese remedies in lab tests and found that berberine had the greatest effect in increasing cholesterol receptors. Further testing showed that receptor levels were increased further when the herb was used together with a statin. The researchers then assessed cholesterol levels in 91 patients with high cholesterol who were treated with berberine or inactive " placebo " for 3 months. The herb was well- tolerated, and lowered total cholesterol by 18 percent and LDL cholesterol by 20 percent. No effect on levels of HDL ( " good " ) cholesterol was seen. Jiang and colleagues then analyzed berberine's effect in a subset of patients who were not taking any other medications or herbs before or during the study. Among these individuals, berberine lowered total cholesterol by 29 percent and LDL cholesterol by 25 percent. Berberine appears to be safe and is extremely cheap, according to Jiang, costing about 70 cents per day. " The next step is to have more clinical studies for this drug to see what is the best dose and what is the effect of the combination with statins, " Jiang said. While the effect of berberine was small compared with that seen with statins, the authors note that the dose used in the current study was " moderate. " Larger effects may be seen with larger doses, they add. SOURCE: Nature Medicine 2004. _______________________________ And this from a Google Search - entrez medline Cardiovascular actions of berberine. Lau CW, Yao XQ, Chen ZY, Ko WH, Huang Y. Department of Physiology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China. Berberine, is an alkaloid from Hydrastis canadensis L., Chinese herb Huanglian, and many other plants. It is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine as an antimicrobial in the treatment of dysentery and infectious diarrhea. This manuscript describes cardiovascular effects of berberine and its derivatives, tetrahydroberberine and 8-oxoberberine. Berberine has positive inotropic, negative chronotropic, antiarrhythmic, and vasodilator properties. Both derivatives of berberine have antiarrhythmic activity. Some cardiovascular effects of berberine and its derivatives are attributed to the blockade of K+ channels (delayed rectifier and K(ATP)) and stimulation of Na+ -Ca(2+) exchanger. Berberine has been shown to prolong the duration of ventricular action potential. Its vasodilator activity has been attributed to multiple cellular mechanisms. The cardiovascular effects of berberine suggest its possible clinical usefulness in the treatment of arrhythmias and/or heart failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 , " " wrote: > > > OK I typed in Chinese Herbs to Health News and got this recent article: > > Chinese Herb Lowers Cholesterol in New Way > > November 11, 2004 02:13:16 PM PST , Reuters > > ? > > Berberine, one of the great forgotten drugs of the early 20th century. Felter and other eclectics wrote accolades about it. Also lowers blood sugar and effective against many resistant bacteria. and oh so unpatentable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2004 Report Share Posted November 21, 2004 Question: When a cell increases its receptor sites and allows more LDL cholesterol to be 'pulled out of the blood' and attached onto the cell, is this a good process? Meaning, can the cell use LDL in a physiologically positive way as it does HDL? Granted my basic western physiology here is lacking, but it seems that maybe this decrease in just blood level cholesterol (LDL) is quite possibly not a positive phenomenon..? Could someone educate me here? - > > [] > Sunday, November 21, 2004 2:00 AM > > berberine > > > > > OK I typed in Chinese Herbs to Health News and got this recent > article: > > Chinese Herb Lowers Cholesterol in New Way > > November 11, 2004 02:13:16 PM PST , Reuters > > > > Berberine, an herb used in traditional Chinese medicine, lowers LDL ( " bad " ) > cholesterol and > works in a way that is distinct from statin drugs like Lipitor (news - web > sites) or Zocor, a > new study shows. > > Because the herb works in a different way, it could potentially be > combined with a statin to > reduce cholesterol levels even further. > > Dr. Jian-Dong Jiang of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City > and colleagues > describe their animal and human studies of berberine in the journal Nature > Medicine. The > drug is traditionally used as an over-the-counter remedy for diarrhea > caused by bacterial > infection. > > Statins work by blocking cholesterol formation in liver cells. This > cholesterol shortage > causes more cholesterol receptors -- hook-like molecules -- to appear on > the cell surface > in an effort to pull cholesterol from the blood to make up for the deficit. > As a result, blood > cholesterol levels drop. > > In contrast, berberine works in a way that doesn't depend on how much > cholesterol is in > the cell, Jiang told Reuters Health. Like statins, the herb increases the > number of > cholesterol receptors on the cell surface, but it does this by stabilizing > and improving the > process by which the receptors are formed. > > Jiang and colleagues screened 700 Chinese remedies in lab tests and found > that berberine > had the greatest effect in increasing cholesterol receptors. Further > testing showed that > receptor levels were increased further when the herb was used together > with a statin. > > The researchers then assessed cholesterol levels in 91 patients with high > cholesterol who > were treated with berberine or inactive " placebo " for 3 months. The herb > was well- > tolerated, and lowered total cholesterol by 18 percent and LDL cholesterol > by 20 percent. > > No effect on levels of HDL ( " good " ) cholesterol was seen. > > Jiang and colleagues then analyzed berberine's effect in a subset of > patients who were not > taking any other medications or herbs before or during the study. Among > these > individuals, berberine lowered total cholesterol by 29 percent and LDL > cholesterol by 25 > percent. > > Berberine appears to be safe and is extremely cheap, according to Jiang, > costing about 70 > cents per day. > > " The next step is to have more clinical studies for this drug to see what > is the best dose > and what is the effect of the combination with statins, " Jiang said. While > the effect of > berberine was small compared with that seen with statins, the authors note > that the dose > used in the current study was " moderate. " Larger effects may be seen with > larger doses, > they add. > > SOURCE: Nature Medicine 2004. > > _______________________________ > > And this from a Google Search - entrez medline > Cardiovascular actions of berberine. > > Lau CW, Yao XQ, Chen ZY, Ko WH, Huang Y. > > Department of Physiology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong > Kong, China. > > Berberine, is an alkaloid from Hydrastis canadensis L., Chinese herb > Huanglian, and many > other plants. It is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine as an > antimicrobial in the > treatment of dysentery and infectious diarrhea. This manuscript describes > cardiovascular > effects of berberine and its derivatives, tetrahydroberberine and 8- > oxoberberine. > Berberine has positive inotropic, negative chronotropic, antiarrhythmic, > and vasodilator > properties. Both derivatives of berberine have antiarrhythmic activity. > Some cardiovascular > effects of berberine and its derivatives are attributed to the blockade of > K+ channels > (delayed rectifier and K(ATP)) and stimulation of Na+ -Ca(2+) exchanger. > Berberine has > been shown to prolong the duration of ventricular action potential. Its > vasodilator activity > has been attributed to multiple cellular mechanisms. The cardiovascular > effects of > berberine suggest its possible clinical usefulness in the treatment of > arrhythmias and/or > heart failure. > > > Chinese Herbal Medicine offers various professional services, including > board approved continuing education classes, an annual conference and a > free discussion forum in Chinese Herbal Medicine. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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