An Ancient Chinese Herb Berberine; New Research in Diabetes Mellitus

In recent decades, the incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) have increased such that it is becoming a major worldwide public health problem. Berberine is a natural product from a Chinese herb, which has been used as anti-diabetic and anti-inflammation medication for centuries. More recently, berberine has also proven its long-term effect on improving patient and animal models with T2DM via several intracellular signal pathways. Here, we summarize its acute and chronic anti-diabetic effect both in vitro and in vivo. It is projected that the efficacy and safety of berberine will be proven in clinical trials and animal experiments in future, and this herb extract might be known as a new class of anti-diabetic drug.