Has anyone tried berberine? I'm noticing that there's a theory of action by which it might actually help the pancreas beta-cells to grow. Namely:
* Berberine inhibits DPP IV (IC 13 micromolar) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19640223
* DPP IV breaks down GLP-1; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipeptidyl ... _inhibitor for a list of standard drugs that inhibit it.
* GLP-1, like injected exendin treatments, can stimulate beta cell replication and thus a gain in islet mass and activity. See http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/co ... /2270.long .
Now, I'm not sure of the degree of support for real long term cure activity out of exendin, or DPP IV inhibitors, or berberine. Nonetheless it is at least recognized that berberine is an effective anti-diabetes drug - see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/ . In fact, berberine is an important component of the Chinese medicine Coptis chinensis French, which has been used to treat diabetes for thousands of years. (It's also present at high levels in Phellodendron amurense)
So ... is anyone using this stuff? Having found that I definitely can get in big trouble if I eat the bad stuff (and knowing that high blood sugar can further damage beta cells) I'm thinking to try this out shortly and see if I can make amends with my poor abused islets that I so mistreated last night.
* Berberine inhibits DPP IV (IC 13 micromolar) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19640223
* DPP IV breaks down GLP-1; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipeptidyl ... _inhibitor for a list of standard drugs that inhibit it.
* GLP-1, like injected exendin treatments, can stimulate beta cell replication and thus a gain in islet mass and activity. See http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/co ... /2270.long .
Now, I'm not sure of the degree of support for real long term cure activity out of exendin, or DPP IV inhibitors, or berberine. Nonetheless it is at least recognized that berberine is an effective anti-diabetes drug - see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/ . In fact, berberine is an important component of the Chinese medicine Coptis chinensis French, which has been used to treat diabetes for thousands of years. (It's also present at high levels in Phellodendron amurense)
So ... is anyone using this stuff? Having found that I definitely can get in big trouble if I eat the bad stuff (and knowing that high blood sugar can further damage beta cells) I'm thinking to try this out shortly and see if I can make amends with my poor abused islets that I so mistreated last night.
