Hong Kong Med J 2023;29(Suppl 2):S39-41
Effect of berberine on cardiovascular disease risk factors: abridged secondary publication
J Zhao1, DKM Ip1, JYY Leung1, D Vackova1, X He2, CM Schooling1
1 School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
2 Pok Oi Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
 
 
  1. In Chinese men, berberine lowers total cholesterol and probably lowers low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, with good safety and tolerability.
  2. Berberine does not lower testosterone in men, which is in contrast to previous evidence on testosterone in women. This suggests a sex-specific effect of berberine on sex hormones.
  3. Exploring other pathways and sex disparity is worthwhile and has relevance to public health and healthcare.