Review article Berberine and neurodegeneration: A review of literature Touqeer Ahmed a , Anwar-ul-Hassan Gilani b,c , Mohammad Abdollahi d , Maria Daglia e , Seyed Fazel Nabavi f , Seyed Mohammad Nabavi f, * a Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan b Department of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia c Natural Product Research Division, Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan d Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran e Department of Drug Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology Section, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy f Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Contents Neurodegeneration and oxidative stress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 971 Therapeutic potential of antioxidants in neurodegeneration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 971 Antioxidant properties of Berberine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 971 Traditional usages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972 Berberine chemistry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972 Sources and bioavailability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972 Completed and ongoing clinical trials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973 Berberine side effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973 Berberine and neurodegeneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973 Conclusion and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976 Conflict of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976 Funding body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976 Pharmacological Reports 67 (2015) 970–979 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 19 November 2014 Received in revised form 2 March 2015 Accepted 5 March 2015 Available online 18 March 2015 Keywords: Oxidative stress Neurodegeneration Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases Antioxidant compounds Berberine A B S T R A C T The excessive production of reactive oxygen species in nervous tissues is considered one of the major risk factors of neurodegenerative diseases. During the last two decades, much attention has been paid to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of natural products and compounds isolated from natural products which are often characterized by high efficacy and low adverse effects. Berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid, widely present in different medicinal herbs, especially in the genus Berberis. It is mainly used as antidiarrhoeal, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiprotozoal agent. However, current research has focused on its beneficial role in neurodegenerative diseases, mainly due to its powerful antioxidant effect. The therapeutic potential of Berberine in different neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer, Parkinson and Huntington disease has been brought to evidence by numerous studies. However, a limited number of reviews focus on the beneficial role of Berberine against neurodegeneration. The main objective of this review is to discuss the role of oxidative stress in neurodegeneration and the potential role of antioxidant compounds, in particular Berberine which is analyzed in its chemical structure, source, bioavailability, therapeutic potential, with special attention to its mechanism of action at a molecular level. ß 2015 Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: Nabavi208@gmail.com (S.M. Nabavi). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Pharmacological Reports jou r nal h o mep ag e: w ww .elsevier .co m /loc ate/p h arep http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pharep.2015.03.002 1734-1140/ß 2015 Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.