Inhibitory effect and transcriptional impact of berberine and evodiamine on human white preadipocyte differentiation.

It has been reported that the botanical alkaloids, berberine and evodiamine inhibit mouse preadipocyte 3T3-L1 differentiation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect and transcriptional impact of berberine and evodiamine individually and in combination on human white preadipocyte (HWP) differentiation. We have shown that treatment with 8 microM berberine or 4 microM evodiamine resulted in a major inhibition of HWP differentiation accompanied by up-regulation of both GATA binding protein 2 and 3 (GATA-2 and GATA-3) mRNA and protein expression, suggesting that both compounds may have excellent potential as agents to prevent obesity.