The progress of hypoglycemic mechanism of berberine

Berberine is a coptis that comes from cork and other herbal extracts containing berberine alkaloid,it also can be synthesized.Berberine has been applied as anti-infective drugs for several years.People found that berberine can reduce fasting serum glucose,blood fat,anti-arrhythmia,anti-cancer,anti-platelet aggregation and enhance immunological function and so on in recent yesrs,but the hypoglycemia effects are reperted widely now.The possible main mechanism contains increase the sensitivity of insulin and decreae the insulin resistance;promoteβ-cell regeneration and functional recovery;suppress the activy of sucrase and maltases,and reduce glucose uptake.This review contains the hypoglycemic efficacy and possible mechanisms of berberine.