Potential application of berberine in the treatment of sepsis.

Gram-negative sepsis ranks as the leading cause of death in intensive care units. Despite the development of new antibiotics, mortality from gram-negative sepsis remains high. The present study aims to investigate the effects of berberine (BBR) administration on septic death induced by intraperitoneal injection. The results showed that (i) single 5 mg/kg dose of BBR increases the survival of septic mice, (ii) BBR administration improves the antimicrobial efficacy of antibiotic drug, (iii) BBR pre-treatment prevents improvements of BBR therapy without affecting the pro-survival effects of antibiotic drug. The effects of BBR administration were associated with immunological alterations represented by changes in CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes population and IL-6 and TNF-α production. This study highlighted the benefits of berberine administration as antibiotic adjuvant in sepsis. Furthermore, information about berberine-induced immunological perturbations and their influence on host response to infection and therapy has been shown.