Table 1.

Berberine as a CR-related nutrient (↑ increase/improvement, ↓ decrease/worsening).

Type of Studies	Tissue Molecular Mechanisms	Effects	References
In vitro and in vivo (obese mice)	Skeletal muscle: ↑ AMPK/PGC-1α pathway activation	↓ lipid deposition in skeletal muscle ↑ glucose metabolism ↑ mitochondrial biogenesis and function	Yao et al. [103]
In vitro study	Hepatocytes (HepG2): ↑ AMPKα1 activation in	↑ glucose and lipid metabolism	Ren et al. [104]
In vitro and in vivo (diabetic rats)	Liver: ↑ PKA activation	↓ inflammatory response	Wu et al. [105]
In vivo (obese rats)	Adipose tissue: ↑ AMPK activation	↓ body weight ↑ glucose metabolism ↓ fibrosis response in adipose tissue	Wang et al. [106]
In vitro and in vivo (obese rats)	Adipose tissue: ↑ AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α activation	↑ insulin sensitizing ↓ inflammation state ↓ macrophage infiltration	Shan et al. [107]
In vivo (obese mice) and clinical study (overweight NAFLD patients)	Brown adipose tissue: ↑ AMPK/PRDM16 signaling cascade	↑ activation of brown adipose tissue	Wu et al. [108]
In vitro	Cardiomyocytes grown in high glucose: ↑ AMPK/ activation	↑ mitochondrial biogenesis	Hang et al. [109]
In vivo (diabetic rats with cardiac ischemia)	Non-ischemic areas of the diabetic heart: ↑ AMPK activity	↓ damages induced by ischemia–reperfusion injury	Chang et al. [110]
In vitro	Cultured endothelial cells and blood vessels isolated from rat aorta: ↑ AMPK/eNOS signaling	↑ improved endothelial dysfunction ↑ vasodilatation	Wang et al. [111]
In vivo (obese rats)	Liver: ↓ Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α pathway	↑ improved insulin resistance ↓ hepatic steatosis and LPS release	Liu et al. [112]
In vivo (Sprague–Dawley rats and hamsters, obese mice)	↑ Butyrate production by gut microbiota	↓ blood lipid and glucose levels	Wang et al. [113]
In vitro and in vivo (mice)	Gut microbiota: ↓ Clostridium species	activation of intestinal FXR	Tian et al. [114]
In vivo (obese male apoE−/− mice)	Modification of gut composition	↓ atherosclerosis development, inflammatory cytokine expression, hepatic FMO3 expression and TMAO	Shi et al. [115]