Berberine may provide redox homeostasis during aging in rats

Aging is a natural phenomenon, which is characterised by progressive physiological changes at cellular and organ level. During aging, the defence mechanism of an organism declines over the period of time. The aim of this study was to investigate the biological efficacy of berberine in D-galactose induced aging rat models. For the study, rats were divided into four groups: Control received only vehicle, BBR received berberine orally, D-Gal received D-galactose subcutaneously and BBR + D-Gal received D-galactose and berberine simultaneously. D-galactose treatment increased the pro-oxidants such as malondialdehyde (MDA) level, protein carbonyl, plasma membrane redox system (PMRS) and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) in the erythrocytes or plasma. It reduced the anti-oxidant level such as reduced glutathione (GSH), ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), plasma thiols, sialic acid and membrane transporters like Na⁺/K⁺ ATPase and Ca²⁺ ATPase activity in the erythrocyte membrane. Co-treatment of berberine in D-galactose induced aging rat models restored pro-oxidants and anti-oxidants in erythrocytes. Berberine also restored the activity of Na⁺/K⁺ ATPase and Ca²⁺ ATPase in the erythrocyte membrane. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that berberine treatment could attenuate erythrocyte aging in rats through stabilisation of the redox equilibrium.