The Effect of Berberine on Lipid Profile, Liver Enzymes, and Fasting Blood Glucose in Patients with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver disorders with a relatively high mortality rate. Berberine has recently been found t have some antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic effects, although the evidence of its effectiveness in NAFLD is limited. To assess the efficacy of berberine among patients with NAFLD.Methods: The patients with NAFLD were randomly assigned to treatment with (n = 25) or without (n = 25) berberine. The patients in the intervention group took berberine 6.25 g per day and the control group had no berberine. All patients in the 2 groups had been recommended to have lifestyle training, incl ding a low-fat diet and physical activity before randomization. Independent student t tests or Mann-Whitney U tests along paired t tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used. Analysis of covariance was also used to estimate the difference of the variables between the 2 groups adjusting for baseline characteristics.Results: The results indicated that berberine, compared with the control group, had no significant impact on lipid levels, including triglyceride (P = 0.350), total cholesterol (P = 0.120), high-density lipoproteins (P = 0.401), and low-density lipoproteins (P = 0.100). Similarly, no significant difference was observed between the treatment arms in the level of fasting blood glucose (P = 0.055) and liver enzymes, such as alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.109), serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (P = 0.366), and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (P = 0.436). The effect of berberine on body weight was also nonsignific nt (P = 0.494) and even smaller than that of liver enzymes, with a mean difference of 1.8 kg (P = 0.304) in body weight.Conclusion: Berberine was not associated with a significant decrease in lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, or liver enzymes among patients with NAFLD.