Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (May 2021)

Pre-clinical Evidence: Berberine as a Promising Cardioprotective Candidate for Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury, a Systematic Review, and Meta-Analysis

  • Cong Chen,
  • Qian Lin,
  • Xue-Ying Zhu,
  • Junyan Xia,
  • Tianshi Mao,
  • Tiange Chi,
  • Jie Wan,
  • Jin-Jin Lu,
  • Yan Li,
  • Jie Cui,
  • Jing Liu,
  • Xiao-Yun Cui,
  • Jingqian Zhang,
  • Kun Zhou,
  • Dong Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2021.646306
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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Objective: Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is one of the causes of most cardiomyocyte injuries and deaths. Berberine (BBR) has been suggested a potential to exert protective effects against myocardial I/R injury. This systematic review aims to determine the intrinsic mechanisms of BBR's protective effects in myocardial I/R injury.Methods: Seven databases were searched for studies performed from inception to July 2020. Methodological quality was assessed by SYRCLE's-RoB tool.Results: Ten studies including a total of 270 animals were included in this study. The methodology quality scores of the included studies ranged from 5 to 7 points. The meta-analysis we conducted demonstrated that BBR significantly reduced myocardial infarct size and the incidence of ventricular arrhythmia, compared to control groups (P < 0.00001). Cardiac function of animals in the BBR treatment group was also markedly increased (P < 0.00001). The index of myocardial apoptosis and the levels of biomarkers of myocardial infarction (LDH and CK) were also decreased in the BBR treatment groups compared to the control groups (P < 0.00001).Conclusions: The pre-clinical evidence, according to our study, showed that BBR is a promising therapeutic agent for myocardial I/R injury. However, this conclusion should be further investigated in clinical studies.

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