SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1460643
Biochemical Changes Associated with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Response to Berberine Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical and Preclinical Research
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2Siemens PLM Software, Chengdu, China
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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a global health challenge.Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid traditionally used for metabolic disorders, has garnered attention for its potential therapeutic interventions.To comprehensively review and perform a meta-analysis of berberine's effects on NAFLD across clinical and preclinical studies.A comprehensive literature search was conducted across five databases from their inception to May 2024. We included randomized controlled trials and animal studies that evaluated berberine's impact on NAFLD using specified biochemical markers.Out of 487 screened studies, 22 (4 clinical and 18 preclinical) were included.Clinically, berberine significantly reduced fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, with an effect size of 0.53 (95% CI: 0.04-1.01). In preclinical settings, berberine consistently demonstrated benefits across several markers, including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and lipid profiles, despite significant heterogeneity in some outcomes.Berberine presents promising therapeutic avenues for NAFLD management, especially in terms of glucose metabolism. Further rigorous, well-designed trials are needed to substantiate these findings.
Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Berberine, clinical study, Preclinical Research, Meta-analysis
Received: 06 Jul 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Yang, Dai, Wang, Zhou, Xia and Shen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lina Xia, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
Tao Shen, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.