The effects of berberine on a murine model of multiple sclerosis and the SPHK1/S1P signaling pathway

作者：Luo, Jiaming; Chen, Rong; Zeng, Siyu; Yu, Juming; Jiang, Guohui; Wang, Li; Qin, Xinyue^*

来源：Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2017, 490(3): 927-932.

DOI：10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.06.142

• Multiple sclerosis
• Experimental autoimmune
• encephalomyelitis
• Astrocytes
• BBR
• Sphingosine-1-phosphate
• Sphingosine kinase-1

Berberine (BBR) has shown neuroprotective properties. The present study aims to investigate the effects of BBR on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a murine model of multiple sclerosis (MS), and SphK1/S1P signaling, which plays a key role in MS. EAE was induced in mice, followed by treatment with BBR at 50,100, or 300 mg/kg/d. Neurophysiological function was evaluated daily; inflammation, cell infiltration, and the severity of demyelination were also examined. The SphK1, SphK2, and SIP levels in the animals and primary astrocyte culture were measured. We found that treatment with BBR reduced the loss of neurophysiological function and the degree of demyelination. Moreover, BBR was associated with a decrease in SphK1 and SIP levels both in the animals and in culture. These results indicated that BBR suppresses demyelination and loss of neurophysiological function by inhibiting the SphK1/S1P signaling pathway. The use of BBR as a treatment of MS warrant further exploration.

• 出版日期2017-8-26
• 单位川北医学院; 重庆医科大学