In the last post, I mentioned that western medicine is waking up to the
realization that herbs may be the answer to the antibiotic resistant infectious
diseases we created. Today, I will share a new
research study with you that examines an herbal constituent called
berberine.
Berberine is found in Goldenseal - Hydrastis canadensis, Oregon grape and
other species of Berberis Phellodendron amurense, Gold thread - Coptis
chinensis. Many of the antimicrobial, antifungal, antiparasitic actions of
these herbs have been attributed to this one constituent. However, as I
mentioned in the previous article, the whole herb is still necessary. We
discussed how Berberis has a metabolite called 5-methoxyhydnocarpin-D
(5'-MHC) that is needed for berberine to be more fully effective
. 5'-MHC is a natural plant inhibitor of multidrug resistant
pumps. Although 5'-MHC has no antimicrobial activity of its
own, the constituent berberine is much more effective when given
in conjunction with the substance.
So, this new research looks at the antifungal activity of berberine in
fluconazole-resistant pathogenic yeasts. They specifically were looking at
candida that is acquired in the hospital. This was really nasty hard to treat
candida. Fluconazole is a fairly strong antifungal drug that use to work on
candida but now there is the fluconazole-resistant candida that
hospitals have bred and is living on equipment and various devises used in
surgical procedures.
Basically, the study found that berberine not only killed the free floating
candida planktonic yeast cells but also the biofilm forming cells. Since many
biofilms are resistant to conventional antifungal agents this is exciting news
to the researchers.
The Brief Details
This study exposed the candida to berberine and found it caused loss of cellular membrane integrity resulting in cell membrane permeability and decreased
the number of viable cells.
According to the data obtained in this study, berberine causes the death of
fluconazole-resistant Candida spp. cells by apoptosis (cell suicide).
The results of this study showed that the berberine concentration necessary
to inhibit both planktonic cells and preformed biofilm cells is similar. This
indicates that berberine may reduce the growth of planktonic cells and inhibit
the viability of cells in preformed biofilms at concentrations of 8 μg/ml and
37.5 μg/ml, respectively. This finding is relevant because biofilms are
frequently associated with reduced sensitivity to conventional antifungal
agents.
Hopefully, when used internally, they will know enough to use berberine in
a whole plant base of Berberis spp.
