Berberine (BBR), a natural plant product, has been shown to have antidiabetic, cholesterol-reducing effects. To investigate the action of BBR as appetite suppressants, two experimental protocols were performed. In the first experiment, the mice were fed either a normal-chow diet or a high-fat diet (HF). The mice received daily intraperitoneal injections of BBR (10 mg/kg or saline at 1 ml/kg) for 3 weeks. To determine the antiobesity effects of BBR, the food consumption, body weight, fat contents, serum leptin, and glucose level were investigated. In the second experiment, we set out to validate the effect of BBR on central neuropeptide Y (NPY) stimulated rats. Experiments were carried out in 24-hour fasted rats, and then food intake and glucose level were subsequently recorded for 1 hour. The experimental groups were subdivided into the intra-3rd ventricular microinjections of ACSF (artificial cerebrospinal fluid), neuropeptide Y (NPY; 100 nM), NPY+BBR (10 nM), and NPY+BBR (100 nM) group. And then the blood glucose level was examined. In the first experiment, treatment with BBR in the HF diet mice reduced food intake, body weight, fat contents, serum leptin, and glucose level. In the second experiment, the NPY-injected group increased food intake by 39.3%, and food intake was reduced in the BBR group by 47.5%, compared with the ACSF-injected group. Also, the serum glucose level in the NPY+BBR (100 nM) group was significantly lower than that in the NPY (100 nM) group. The results suggest that BBR improved lipid dysregulation in obesity by controlling the central obesity related pathway.
Diurnal changes in hypothalamic neuropeptide and SOCS-3 expression: effects of lactation and relationship with serum leptin and food intake