Coptidis Rhizoma: a comprehensive review of its traditional uses, botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology

Wang, Jin; Wang, Lin; Lou, Guan-Hua; Zeng, Hai-Rong; Hu, Ju; Huang, Qin-Wan; Peng, Wei; Yang, Xiang-Bo

Experimental studies showed that CR and its compounds could be used to treat diseases of nervous system, digestive system, skeleton, and skin and hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity and agingrelated disorders (Lee et al. 2010; Su et al. 2017) . Berberine could ameliorate b-amyloid pathology, gliosis, and cognitive impairment in an Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse model through the PI3K/AKT/GSK3 signalling pathway and induced 6-hydroxydopamine-induced human dopaminergic neuronal cell death through the induction of heme-oxygenase-1 and exert antidepressant action through inhibition of organic cation transporter 2 and 3 (Durairajan et al. 2012; Bae et al. 2013; Sun et al. 2014) . Furthermore, CR could treat Alzheimer's disease via the significant inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) (Kaufmann et al. 2016) . CRE, coptisine and jatrorrhizine displayed neuroprotective effect by alleviating oxidative stress (Friedemann et al. 2015 (Friedemann et al. , 2016 Luo et al. 2016) . Berberine prevented glucocorticoidinduced bone loss in lumbar spongy bone by promoting bone formation and inhibiting bone resorption (Bilian et al. 2011 ). CRE had a radioprotective effect against radiation-induced skin damage in rats by modulating oxidative stress in skin and in aging-related diseases via antioxidation and AMPK activation (Wang XJ et al. 2013; Xu Z et al. 2017 ). In the digestive system, CR extracts could exert an analgesic effect on a rat model of irritable bowel syndrome by decreasing serotonin release and cholecystokinin expression (Tjong et al. 2011 ). Coptisine showed a significant gastric mucosal protective effect on stress gastric ulcers in mice. However, the protective effect of coptisine (57 mg/kg) on the gastric mucosa was significantly better than that of 100 mg/kg berberine (Feng et al. 2007 ). Jatrorrhizine delayed gastric emptying and intestinal transit in postoperative ileus . Berberine has the potential to alleviate premenopausal syndrome by decreasing oxidative stress, LDL, triglycerides, insulin resistance and improving mood (Caliceti et al. 2015) .