. 2022 Mar 29;30(3):1063–1077. doi: 10.1007/s10787-022-00976-2

Table 1.

Characteristics of included studies

Study		Population		Sample size (C/E)		Age (years)			Intervention		Duration	Presented data
Study		Population		Sample size (C/E)		C	E		C	E	Duration	Presented data
Liu and Hu (2008)		Type 2 diabetes		30/30		53.07 ± 8.51	52.00 ± 9.81		Metformin 1.5 g/d	Metformin + berberine 0.9–1.5 g/d	8 weeks	CRP
Xu et al. (2008)		Diabetic nephropathy		40/40		51 ± 3.5^a	51 ± 3.5^a		Pioglitazone 30 mg/d	Pioglitazone + berberine 0.9 g/d	12 weeks	CRP
Zhang et al. (2008)		Type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia		58/52		N/A	51 ± 10		Placebo	Berberine 1.0 g/d	3 months	CRP, IL-6
Liu et al. (2010)		Type 2 diabetes		20/20		59.40 ± 15.40	62.80 ± 12.20		Basic treatments^b	Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	3 months	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Liu et al. (2010)		Type 2 diabetes		20/20		64.45 ± 14.40			Basic treatments^b + Rosiglitazone 4 mg/d	Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	3 months	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Sheng and Xie (2010)		Type 2 diabetes		30/30		51 ± 8	52 ± 11		Glipizide 10 mg/d + metformin 1.5 g/d	Glipizide + metformin + berberine 1.5 g/d	3 months	CRP, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6
Zhang et al. (2010)		Acute coronary syndromes		20/20		61.42 ± 8.60^a	61.42 ± 8.60^a		Basic treatments^b	Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	30 days	CRP
Zhu (2010)		Diabetic nephropathy		48/44		66.69 ± 8.32	65.71 ± 8.41		Irbesartan 0.15 g/d	Irbesartan + berberine 1.2 g/d	12 weeks	CRP, TNF-α
Meng et al. (2011)		Type 2 diabetes		30/30		53 ± 13.9	51 ± 13.3		Insulin	Insulin + berberine 0.9 g/d	12 weeks	TNF-α, IL-6
Xiang et al. (2011)	Type 2 diabetes		20/20		N/A		N/A	Placebo		Berberine 1.2 g/d	12 weeks	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Xiang et al. (2011)	Type 2 diabetes		20/20		N/A			Aspirin 0.1 g/d				CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Zhou and Huang (2011)	Hyperlipidemia		60/60		N/A		N/A	No treatment		Berberine 0.9 g/d	4 months	CRP
Deng et al. (2012)	Polycystic ovary syndrome and insulin resistance		28/31		26.75 ± 2.62		25.74 ± 2.66	Ethinylestradiol cyproterone 2 mg: 0.035 mg/d + placebo		Ethinylestradiol cyproterone + berberine 0.9 g/d	3 menstrual cycles	CRP, TNF-α
Dou et al. (2012)	Obesity		60/58		47.68 ± 8.40		48.42 ± 8.60	Vitamin C 0.9 g/d		Berberine 0.9 g/d	4 weeks	CRP
Liu and Wang (2012)	Ischemic heart disease and heart failure		44/50		69.6 ± 8.2		67.5 ± 10.3	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	8 weeks	TNF-α
Yu et al. (2012)	Type 2 diabetes		24/24		45.6 ± 5.4^a		45.6 ± 5.4^a	Glibenclamide 5 mg/d		Exenatide 5 μg/d + berberine 0.9 g/d	12 weeks	CRP
Zhou and Huang (2012)	Obesity and type 2 diabetes		46/46		46.67 ± 8.52^a		46.67 ± 8.52^a	Metformin 1.5 g/d		Metformin + berberine 0.6 g/d	12 weeks	CRP
Shu (2014)	Type 2 diabetes		32/32		61.21 ± 13.52		62.80 ± 12.20	Insulin		Insulin + berberine 0.9 g/d	24 weeks	CRP
Zhang et al. (2014)	Cerebral infarction		30/30		54.1 ± 4.6		55.6 ± 5.2	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + atorvastatin + berberine 0.4 g/d	4 weeks	CRP
Zhang et al. (2014)			30/30		54.3 ± 4.9			Basic treatments^b + atorvastatin 40 mg/d		Basic treatments^b + atorvastatin + berberine 0.4 g/d	4 weeks	CRP
Dai et al. (2015)	Hypertension and type 2 diabetes		33/39		53.06 ± 10.36		55.31 ± 11.79	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.3 g/d	2 years	CRP
Chen et al. (2015)	Coronary artery disease and hypercholesteremia		40/40		51.5 ± 10.4		52.1 ± 9.8	Simvastatin 20 mg/d		Simvastatin 10 mg/d + berberine 0.5 g/d	1 month	CRP
Zhan et al. (2015)	Type 2 diabetes with hyperlipidemia		40/40		51.6 ± 3.8^a		51.6 ± 3.8^a	Basic treatments^b + metformin 1.5 g/d		Basic treatments^b + metformin + berberine 0.6 g/d	3 months	CRP
Zhu et al. (2015)	Acute ischemic stroke		28/16		66.25 ± 8.83		63.31 ± 8.10	Atorvastatin 20 mg/d + aspirin 0.1 g/d		Atorvastatin 20 mg/d + aspirin + berberine 0.4 g/d	3 months	CRP
Zhu et al. (2015)	Acute ischemic stroke		11/16		66.45 ± 8.86			Atorvastatin 40 mg/d + aspirin 0.1 g/d		Atorvastatin 20 mg/d + aspirin + berberine 0.4 g/d	3 months	CRP
Li et al. (2016)	Insulin resistance with schizophrenia		33/31		40.18 ± 12.21		40.14 ± 9.40	Risperidone 3.85 ± 0.94 mg/d + placebo		Risperidone 3.77 ± 0.85 mg/d + berberine 0.9 g/d	12 weeks	TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6
Sun (2016)	Obesity and type 2 diabetes		48/48		52.37 ± 4.48		52.32 ± 4.45	Sitagliptin 0.1 g/d		Sitagliptin + berberine 0.9 g/d	12 weeks	CRP, IL-6
Wang (2016)	Type 2 diabetes		25/25		N/A		N/A	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.3 g/d	3 months	CRP, IL-6
Zhou et al. (2016)	Obesity and type 2 diabetes		30/30		55.6 ± 12.7		56.4 ± 10.9	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.6 g/d	3 months	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Chen et al. (2017)	Metabolic syndrome with renal damage		10/10		40.20 ± 5.89		38.70 ± 10.3	Losartan 0.1 g/d		Losartan + berberine 0.9 g/d	8 weeks	TNF-α
Dong et al. (2017)	Type 2 diabetes		49/49		51.34 ± 4.43		52.23 ± 4.41	Metformin 1.5 g/d		Metformin + berberine 0.9 g/d	12 weeks	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Li (2017a)	Metabolic syndrome with schizophrenia		42/40		42.14 ± 11.61		41.86 ± 10.22	Olanzapine + metformin 0.75 g/d		Olanzapine + berberine 0.9 g/d	12 weeks	TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6
Li (2017b)	Obesity and type 2 diabetes		30/30		51.24 ± 3.91		50.54 ± 3.78	Sitagliptin 0.1 g/d		Sitagliptin + berberine 0.9 g/d	3 months	CRP, IL-6
Li (2017c)	Acute cerebral ischemic stroke		60/60		61.94 ± 3.77		62.84 ± 4.67	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	14 days	CRP, IL-6
Sun (2017)	Type 2 diabetes		91/91		58.34 ± 11.21		58.95 ± 10.57	Metformin 1.5 g/d		Metformin + berberine 0.09 g/d	8 weeks	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Yuan et al. (2017)	Type 2 diabetes		41/41		65.78 ± 8.96		66.13 ± 9.06	Glimepiride 1 mg/d		Glimepiride + Gegen Qinlian Decoction + berberine 0.6 g/d	2 weeks	CRP, TNF-α
Bai et al. (2018)	Hyperlipidemia		75/75		63.38 ± 7.24		63.29 ± 7.85	Ezetimibe 10 mg/d		Ezetimibe + berberine 0.4 g/d	1 month	CRP
Du and Zhang (2018)	Coronary heart disease		12/18		66 ± 10		60 ± 6	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	3 months	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Fan et al. (2018)	Type 2 diabetes		40/40		52.71 ± 7.89		53.27 ± 8.15	Metformin 1.5 g/d		Metformin + berberine 1.5 g/d	3 months	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
He et al. (2018)	Diarrhea with hyperlipidemia		62/62		55.16 ± 6.79		56.78 ± 6.74	Basic treatments^b + levofloxacin 0.5 g/d		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.36 g/d	8 weeks	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
He (2018)	Diabetic nephropathy		52/52		56.4 ± 7.3		56.2 ± 7.5	Basic treatments^b valsartan 80 mg/d		Basic treatments^b + valsartan + berberine 1.2 g/d	12 weeks	CRP, TNF-α
Huang et al. (2018)	Type 2 diabetes		65/65		67.16 ± 8.54		66.09 ± 8.67	Insulin		Insulin + berberine 1.8 g/d	1 month	TNF-α
Li and Deng (2018)	Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease		53/53		74.68 ± 4.32		74.07 ± 5.16	Polyene phosphatidyl choline 1.368 g/d		Polyene phosphatidyl choline + berberine 0.36 g/d	12 weeks	TNF-α
Lie et al. (2018a)	Polycystic ovary syndrome		38/38		N/A		N/A	Ethinylestradiol cyproterone 2 mg: 0.035 mg/d + placebo		Ethinylestradiol cyproterone + berberine 0.9 g/d	21 days	CRP
Lie et al. (2018b)	Type 2 diabetes		57/57		57 ± 12		53 ± 15	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 1.2 g/d	6 months	CRP
Lu et al. (2018)	Acute ischemic cerebral infarction		60/60		60.7 ± 5.2		59.9 ± 6.1	Basic treatments^b + rosuvastatin 10 mg/d		Basic treatments^b + rosuvastatin + berberine 0.9 g/d	N/A	CRP
Ning (2018)	Acute cerebral infarction		39/39		61.00 ± 1.26		60.00 ± 1.47	Basic treatments^b + atorvastatin 40 mg/d		Basic treatments^b + atorvastatin + berberine 0.9 g/d	15 days	CRP, IL-6
Wang et al. (2018)	Metabolic syndrome with renal damage		10/10		35.62 ± 1.43		37.30 ± 1.96	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	8 weeks	IL-6
Yang et al. (2018)	Symptomatic atherosclerotic intracranial artery stenosis		60/60		61.98 ± 4.09		61.98 ± 4.09	Simvastatin 40 mg/d + aspirin 0.1 g/d		Simvastatin + aspirin + berberine 1.2 g/d	6 months	CRP
Cao and Su (2019)	Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance		40/40		65.6 ± 1.8		65.5 ± 1.8	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 1.2 g/d	1 month	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Lai et al. (2019)	Polycystic ovary syndrome and insulin resistance		48/48		28.48 ± 6.34		29.53 ± 5.21	Metformin 1 g/d		Peikun pills 18 g/d + berberine 0.9 g/d	3 months	CRP, TNF-α, IL-6
Lan et al. (2019)	Hypertensive atherosclerosis		40/40		63.3 ± 6.2		64.2 ± 5.5	Basic treatments^b		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	8 weeks	TNF-α, IL-6
			40/40				65.1 ± 5.0			Basic treatments + berberine 1.8 g/d
Xie and Huang (2019)	Diabetic nephropathy		53/53		61.3 ± 1.2		62.1 ± 1.6	Basic treatments^b + tripterygium wilfordii polyglycosides 60 mg/d		Basic treatments^b + tripterygium wilfordii polyglycosides + berberine 1.5 g/d	90 days	TNF-α, IL-6
Yang and Yin (2019)	Coronary heart disease		30/40		61.37 ± 8.79		60.63 ± 8.53	Basic treatments^b + rosuvastatin 10 mg/d		Basic treatments^b + berberine 0.9 g/d	4 weeks	CRP, TNF-α
Ye and You (2019)	Acute ischemic cerebral infarction		33/33		56.65 ± 7.12		57.36 ± 6.79	Rosuvastatin 10 mg/d		Rosuvastatin + berberine 0.9 g/d	12 days	CRP, IL-6
Yang et al. (2020)	Type 2 diabetes		96/96		49.7 ± 7.4		49.9 ± 7.8	Metformin 2 g/d		Metformin + berberine 1.5 g/d	3 months	TNF-α, IL-6

N/A The date was not reported, CRP C-reactive protein, TNF-α tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-6 interleukin-6, IL-1β interleukin-1 beta, C control group, E experimental group, X g/d X g daily

^aOnly demographic characteristics of the total sample population were reported

^bDifferent patients used different drugs for basic treatments