The Effect of Berberine on Intestinal Function and Inflammatory Mediators in Severe Patients With Covid-19

Summary

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread across China and throughout the world, causing hundreds of thousands died. Studies had shown that "cytokine storms" and subsequent multiple organ dysfunction (MODS) are important causes for disease progression and death in patients with COVID-19. Similar to SARS-CoV infection, SARS-CoV-2 would infect humans via binding of S-protein to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a host cell receptor, and the S protein is activated and cleaved by cellular transmembrane serine proteases, allowing the virus to release fusion peptides for membrane fusion. In addition to the lungs, ACE2 is also highly expressed in the esophagus, small intestine and colon, suggesting that the gut might also be an important target organ for SARS-CoV-2. About 8-16% of severe pneumonia cases confirmed with SARS-CoV-2 infection developed gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Moreover, the stool of patient with COVID-19 also positive by real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (rRT-PCR) assay. Furthermore, elevated faecal calprotectin was observed in patients with COVID-19 suggested an inflammatory response in the gut, which was significantly correlated with IL-6. For severe and critical cases, control "cytokine storms" and maintain intestinal microenvironment balance have been included into the Diagnosis and Treatment Guideline of patients with COVID-19 (Edition 7). Berberine is a quaternary ammonium alkaloid isolated from rhizoma coptidis. It is often used in treatment of infectious diarrhea by bacteriostasis and inhibition of intestinal gland secretion. Berberine has also been found to have a role in intestinal immune regulation, inhibiting both AP-1 and NF- B, the key factors in cell signal transduction, and reducing the inflammatory response. Investigators conducted a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial to investigate the effects of berberine on intestinal function, serum concentrations of the inflammatory biomarkers, and organ function in severe patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Timeline

Start

2020-02-08

Primary completion

2020-04-18

Completion

2020-04-23

Publications

• Results Effenberger M, Grabherr F, Mayr L, Schwaerzler J, Nairz M, Seifert M, Hilbe R, Seiwald S, Scholl-Buergi S, Fritsche G, Bellmann-Weiler R, Weiss G, Muller T, Adolph TE, Tilg H. Faecal calprotectin indicates intestinal inflammation in COVID-19. Gut. 2020 Aug;69(8):1543-1544. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-321388. Epub 2020 Apr 20. No abstract available.
• Results Jin X, Lian JS, Hu JH, Gao J, Zheng L, Zhang YM, Hao SR, Jia HY, Cai H, Zhang XL, Yu GD, Xu KJ, Wang XY, Gu JQ, Zhang SY, Ye CY, Jin CL, Lu YF, Yu X, Yu XP, Huang JR, Xu KL, Ni Q, Yu CB, Zhu B, Li YT, Liu J, Zhao H, Zhang X, Yu L, Guo YZ, Su JW, Tao JJ, Lang GJ, Wu XX, Wu WR, Qv TT, Xiang DR, Yi P, Shi D, Chen Y, Ren Y, Qiu YQ, Li LJ, Sheng J, Yang Y. Epidemiological, clinical and virological characteristics of 74 cases of coronavirus-infected disease 2019 (COVID-19) with gastrointestinal symptoms. Gut. 2020 Jun;69(6):1002-1009. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-320926. Epub 2020 Mar 24.
• Results Zhou F, Yu T, Du R, Fan G, Liu Y, Liu Z, Xiang J, Wang Y, Song B, Gu X, Guan L, Wei Y, Li H, Wu X, Xu J, Tu S, Zhang Y, Chen H, Cao B. Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet. 2020 Mar 28;395(10229):1054-1062. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30566-3. Epub 2020 Mar 11.

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