Analysis of Berberine Improving Insulin Resistance in Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Insulin resistance (IR) is one of the main pathological factors in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and improving IR has been an important way to treat T2DM. In recent years, traditional Chinese medicine has gradually begun to be used as a new kind of drug or combined therapy for treating IR. This paper introduces how berberine improves IR from the aspects of pharmacological mechanisms, clinical hypoglycemic data, and future prospects. Berberine has multiple mechanisms of action, mainly by inhibiting the signaling pathways of IR, thereby repairing the normal insulin signaling pathway, promoting glucose uptake by the body, and inhibiting gluconeogenesis. In terms of actual hypoglycaemic effects, berberine alone or in combination with oral hypoglycaemic drugs can significantly reduce the fasting blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin and 2-hour postprandial blood glucose levels of patients, and it is safe. However, clinical evidence for berberine is still relatively lacking, and its molecular mechanisms are not fully understood, which can serve as directions for future research.Berberine has the potential to improve insulin resistance in T2DM and has shown good safety and natural alkaloid characteristics providing new ideas for the development of new drugs or combination therapies for diabetes.