E-Book

E-Book 2nd Congress

  • Using Berberine as an anticancer agent
  • Ali Varvani Farahani,1,* Parisa Samadi,2
    1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Islamic Azad University. Arak Branch, Arak, Iran
    2. Stem Cell Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran


  • Introduction: Globally, cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Many efforts have been made to develop effective therapeutic strategies for cancer in recent years. Berberine is a phytochemical compound derived from various plant groups. BBR is a well-known nutraceutical because of its wide range of pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antidiarrheal, antihypertensive, hypolipidemic, and fungicide. In addition, it exhibits inhibitory effects on multiple types of cancers. In this review, we have elaborated on the anticancer effects of BBR through the regulation of different molecular pathways.
  • Methods: This is a Review Article.
  • Results: As reported by many investigations, BBR is effective against hypertension, hyperlipidemia, gastroenteritis, fatty liver, and Coronary Artery Diseases (CADs), polycystic ovary, diarrhea, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, recent in vitro findings have shown BBR to possess significant anticancer effects on various cancer cell lines by inhibiting cancer cell migration and proliferation via inducing apoptosis pathways and arresting cell cycle. According to another study BBR suppressed the Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 1 (STAT1) phosphorylation inhibits IFN-γ-induced IDO1 expression.45 Also, based on other several studies it has numerous effects on different types of cancer. Throughout this review, we tried to illustrate BBR antitumor activity occurring through different molecular pathways and mechanisms such as inducing apoptosis and autophagy, inhibiting the progression of the cell cycle, and suppressing metastasis and invasion in different types of cancer Considering these reports, we can conclude that BBR, as a natural product in cancer therapy, has a significant potentiality in stimulating both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis pathways both by increasing the expression of pro-apoptotic molecules such as BAX, BAD, and Bcl-2-like protein 11 (BIM), and also by inhibiting the expression of anti-apoptotic molecules such as BCL-2, tumor cell death occurs. BBR plays as a potential autophagy modulator and may trigger or inhibit autophagy, depending on the circumstances,113 however, it mainly induces autophagy in cancer cells. BBR can inhibit metastasis and migration in different types of cancer by affecting primarily p38 MAPK, JNK, ERK1/2, P13K–Akt and NF-kB signaling pathways to suppress the action of u-PA and MMPs.
  • Conclusion: Berberine (BBR), a natural isoquinoline alkaloid, is known as an outstanding biologically active natural product. It has efficient properties against different types of cancer. BBR controls molecular mechanisms by a variety of signaling pathways which affect tumor cells, suggesting the possible therapeutic properties to fight different tumor cells. Reports have emphasized the great potential of BBR in inducing cancer cell death by stimulating both apoptosis and autophagy. Different studies reported that BBR could prevent the proliferation of cancer cells by inhibiting the molecules involved in cell cycle regulation and therefore, trigger cell cycle arrest in cancerous cells. In addition, many studies have examined the effect of BBR on the inhibition of metastasis and invasion of malignant cancer cells and reported this natural product to be efficient in the treatment of malignant and invasive cancers by inhibiting the expression of proteins involved in metastasis. Although the exact mechanism of action of BBR as an anticancer drug has not yet been completely explained and further research is needed, recent studies have indicated that it can be used in combination with chemotherapy agents.
  • Keywords: Berberine; cancer therapy; phytochemicals