Hericium erinaceus, in combination with natural flavonoid/alkaloid and B3/B8 vitamins, can improve inflammatory burden in Inflammatory bowel diseases tissue: an ex vivo study

Hericium erinaceus, berberine, and quercetin are effective in experimental colitis. It is unknown whether they can ameliorate inflammatory bowel diseases in humans. This ex vivo study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of a nutraceutical compound of HBQ-Complex^® (H. erinaceus, berberine, and quercetin), biotin, and niacin in inflammatory bowel disease patients. Tissue specimens were obtained either from Normal-Appearing Mucosa (NAM) or from Inflamed Mucosa (IM) in 20 patients with inflammatory bowel disease. mRNA and protein expression of COX-2, IL-10, and TNF-α were determined in NAM and IM biopsy samples (T0). IM samples were then incubated in HBQ-Complex^® (with the addition of niacin and biotin), and COX-2, IL-10, and TNF-α tissue levels were evaluated at 120 minutes (T1) and 180 minutes (T2). Incubation with this compound resulted in a progressive decrease in gene and protein COX-2 and TNF-α expression at T1/T2 in the IM. IL-10 showed an opposite trend, with a progressive increase of mRNA and protein expression over the same time window. HBQ-Complex^® (with the addition of niacin and biotin) decreased the expression of proinflammatory cytokines at the mRNA and protein levels in IBD tissue. On the contrary, mRNA and protein expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 showed a progressive increase.

Apoptotic effect of berberine via Bcl-2, ROR1, and mir-21 in patients with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Berberine is a natural isoquinoline alkaloid that has been shown to inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis in a wide variety of tumor cells. However, the action mechanism of berberine in CLL cells is unknown. The previous study has shown that berberine leads to reduced viability and elevated levels of apoptosis in PBMCs of CLL patients. CLL cells are characterized by remarkable expression of Bcl-2 and ROR1 which leads to activation and survival and increases disease progression in patients. High-level expression of miR-21 in patients with CLL is associated with a higher risk of death. Here we investigated the anticancer effects of berberine upon peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of CLL patients. To evaluate the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins and ROR1 using flow cytometry and western blot, PBMCs were treated with 25 μM of berberine for 24 hr. The expression levels of mir-21 were evaluated by real-time PCR. Examination of treated cells demonstrated that berberine decreased Bcl-2 and ROR1 levels. Although western blot results did not show any change in Bax as a pro-apoptotic protein, an increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio indicated that mitochondrial pathway is involved in berberine-induced apoptosis of CLL cells. Interestingly, berberine could reduce the expression of miR-21 in comparison to the untreated group. Our findings describe some of the molecular mechanisms of berberine by decreasing Bcl-2, ROR1, and mir-21 which may be considered as a novel apoptosis inducer in CLL cells.

Natural Products Isolated from Oriental Medicinal Herbs Inactivate Zika Virus

Zika virus (ZIKV) has been associated with serious health conditions, and an intense search to discover different ways to prevent and treat ZIKV infection is underway. Berberine and emodin possess several pharmacological properties and have been shown to be particularly effective against the entry and replication of several viruses. We show that emodin and berberine trigger a virucidal effect on ZIKV. When the virus was exposed to 160 µM of berberine, a reduction of 77.6% in the infectivity was observed; when emodin was used (40 µM), this reduction was approximately 83.3%. Dynamic light scattering data showed that both compounds significantly reduce the hydrodynamic radius of virus particle in solution. We report here that berberine and emodin, two natural compounds, have strong virucidal effect in Zika virus.