Berberol®: Berberine made bioavailable to treat dysmetabolic patients straight to target
Berberol® is the first food supplement containing berberine that overcame the issue of the very poor bioavailability of this botanical ingredient thanks to its patented formulation featuring Silymarin.
The effectiveness of this supplement in blood sugar and blood fat control has been confirmed by several studies according to which Berberol® could be a treatment option for different kinds of patients.
The huge potential of berberine and its limitation
Berberine is a plant alkaloid found in several species of the genus Berberis, such as Berberis aristata, and it is extracted from their rhizome or bark. This substance has been used for centuries for its various properties reported in literature, such as antimicrobial activity or in case of diarrhea, but today it is mainly exploited for its ability to regulate glucose and lipid parameters, which are one of the most common public health issues in the world, in modern times.
Unfortunately, the benefits communing from the use of berberine are limited by its very poor bioavailability. This is because the molecule of berberine is extremely hydrophilic and very little lipophilic. This causes berberine to be poorly absorbed in the intestine and mostly eliminated in the faeces.
Owing to these factors, PharmExtracta chose berberine as a high-potential botanical ingredient and decided to engineer it into a biopharmaceutical product to overcome the limit of its scarce bioavailability.
This is how Berberol® was born, a patented formulation containing standardised dry extract of Berberis aristata combined with Silybum marianum, also known as milk thistle, which enhances berberine bioavailability.
Why choose Berberol® instead of berberine alone?
Berberol® is much more than standard berberine because its patent-protected formulation features the association of berberine with silymarin that allows a significant increase in the absorption and bioavailability of berberine.
Berberine alone is actually expelled from the cell, via an extrusion mechanism mediated by P-glycoprotein: when berberine is getting absorbed through the cell membrane of intestinal epithelial cells, P-glycoprotein pumps it right out of the cell back into the intestinal lumen.
But silymarin is an effective inhibitor of P-glycoprotein and is able to arrest this mechanism. In short silymarin keeps P-glycoprotein occupied, as if to block the exit door, preventing the extrusion of berberine from the cell and thus increasing its absorption.
Essentially, Silymarin really works as a bioenhancer of berberine in this instance.
The effectiveness of this patented compound compared to berberine alone was also proven in the study Preliminary study about the possible glycemic clinical advantage in using a fixed combination of Berberis aristata and Silybum marianum standardized extracts versus only Berberis aristata in patients with type 2 diabetes that involved 69 patients, already being treated with hypoglycemic therapies.
From the results, it is evident how the use of Berberol® leads to a much more marked reduction in both lipid and carbohydrate parameters, compared to the use of berberine alone, thus justifying the use of Berberol® instead of standard berberine.
Berberol®: the first flagship product Of Pharmextracta’s Biopharmacutical Phytotherapy
Berberol® was launched by PharmExtracta in 2006 and has immediately become a flagship product of PharmExtracta’s Biopharmaceutical Phytotherapy.
Since then, it has established 17-year-long history of excellence having been the subject of:
- 11 clinical studies
- 3 meta-analyses
for a total of over a THOUSAND patients treated! This is a rarity for a nutraceutical product.
Moreover, all studies show consistent results confirming that Berberol®, alone or in combination, has important activities on both lipid profile and blood glucose levels.
The product was specifically formulated to be used as add-on therapy in DYSLIPIDEMIC PATIENTS and DIABETIC PATIENTS that, with the help of Berberol®, can meet their therapeutic goals by receiving a lower dose of drugs and avoid/minimize possible drug-associated side effects.
But Berberol® can also be used as monotherapy in patients with METABOLIC SYNDROME, to keep a bunch of different parameters at bay with just one product. Moreover, it is useful in patients who have not received a specific diagnosis but exceed blood glucose and/or lipid recommended levels can. Taking Berberol® can help them quickly achieve their target levels and maintain the ideal values.
