Mixed
Administration of berberine or Rhizoma coptidis (RC) reduces body weight and visceral adipose tissue in high-fat diet-fed mice by inhibiting gut microbial degradation of dietary polysaccharides, which subsequently upregulates Fiaf protein expression and activates mitochondrial energy metabolism genes (AMPK, PGC1a, UCP2, CPT1a) in visceral adipose tissue.
In this mouse study, berberine (200 mg/kg) reduced obesity on a high-fat diet not by making you eat less or blocking fat absorption, but by changing gut bacteria to reduce carbohydrate breakdown. This shift triggered a signaling protein (Fiaf) that boosted energy burning in fat tissue. While promising, human dosing and bioavailability differ significantly from mice.
These results firstly suggest that antimicrobial activities of RC and berberine may result in decreasing degradation of dietary polysaccharides, lowering potential calorie intake, and then systemically activating Fiaf protein and related gene expressions of mitochondrial energy metabolism in visceral adipose tissues. Taken together, these action mechanisms may contribute to significant anti-obesity effects.
Why this rating
The study is an animal model (C57BL/6J mice) using a high-fat diet; results may not directly translate to human physiology or dosing.
Source
Effects and Action Mechanisms of Berberine and Rhizoma coptidis on Gut Microbes and Obesity in High-Fat Diet-Fed C57BL/6J Mice
Weidong Xie et al. · PLoS ONE · 2011
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0024520
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