Berberis Fruit Extract and Biochemical Parameters in Patients With Type II Diabetes

BACKGROUND Diabetes mellitus is a common medical problem. There is in fact a growing body of literature on plants used for the treatment of diabetes. Plant materials attracted considerable interest of scientists. In this respect, in the past few years, attempts were made to use natural plant products for the treatment of patients with diabetes. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Berberis fruit extract to achieve glycemic control in patients with Type II diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was performed between July 2010 and April 2013. Thirty patients of type II diabetes admitted to Ayatollah Rohhani hospital were recruited. Patients' sera were collected for the assessment of glucose and HbA1c values. Biochemical analyses were performed before and after treatment by Berberis fruit extract. Biochemical parameters were measured by spectrophotometric method (Jenway uv/vis, 6505 model, Dunmow, UK). Glucose level was measured by glucose oxidase method kit (Pars Azmoon, Tehran, IR Iran). Serum total cholesterol and triglycerides were measured using standard biochemical kits (Pars Azmoon, Tehran, Iran). Blood glycated hemoglobin level was measured by using Elisa kit (Bioassay technology laboratory, Elisa kit). Experiments were performed in triplicate in at least three separate experiments. RESULTS Our findings demonstrated that patients with type 2 diabetes who received barberry fruit had significant reduction in serum glucose to 136.15 ± 32.8 mg/dL and decreased HbA1c levels to 7.07 ± 1.21 mg/dL, during the 8 weeks of study. CONCLUSIONS This investigation revealed that Berberis fruit extract has beneficial metabolic effects in patients with type II diabetes. Barberry may improve glucose catabolism via glycolysis pathway, stimulate insulin secretion or improve insulin function and finally decrease glucose uptake. Our results indicated that Berberis fruit regulates glucose metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes.