Berberidaceae

Berberis vulgaris

Barberry (pipperidge bush) is a vernacular name for Berberis vulgaris (the European barberry), but it can also refer to Mahonia aquifolium and Mahonia nervosa . In the USA only the Mahonia species have had official status as a source of barberry, but Berberis vulgaris is said to serve similar medicinal purposes and to contain similar principles. Its root bark yields the quaternary isoquinoline alkaloid berberine and several other tertiary and quaternary alkaloids. Berberine is also found in Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal) and Coptis chinensis (goldenthread).

In humans berberine has positive inotropic, negative chronotropic, antidysrhythmic, and vasodilator properties [ ] and there is experimental evidence that it can cause arterial hypotension [ , ].

Berberine displaces bilirubin from albumin and there is therefore a risk of kernicterus in jaundiced neonates [ ].

In a study of the effect of berberine in acute watery diarrhea, oral doses of 400 mg were well tolerated, except for complaints about its bitter taste and a few instances of transient nausea and abdominal discomfort. However, patients with cholera given tetracycline plus berberine were more ill, suffered longer from diarrhea, and required larger volumes of intravenous fluid than those given tetracycline alone [ ].