Tier 2 — strong

Berberine for diarrhea in children and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Yu M, Jin X, Liang C, Bu F, Pan D, He Q, Ming Y, Little P, Du H, Liang S, Hu R, Li C, Hu YJ, Cao H, Liu J, Fei Y
Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology 2020 13:1756284820961299

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 33149763
PubMed Central
PMC7586028
DOI
10.1177/1756284820961299
Funding
Reported funding sources: national key research and development program of china stem cell and translational researchhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100013290. Grant and funder-role details are in the publication.
Competing interests
A complete competing-interest declaration was not available in the accessible source; no absence of conflicts is inferred.

Study snapshot

DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis
ModelPublished human studies
Sample38 trials; 3948 participants, including 2702 children
InterventionEvidence synthesis; interventions and comparators vary across included studies
DurationNo new treatment; included-study durations vary
EndpointsPooled clinical or metabolic outcomes; Risk of bias and heterogeneity; Adverse-event reporting

What the study showed, in plain terms

The review reported diarrhea-related signals but emphasized low or very low certainty for many outcomes. Most pediatric trials used rectal administration.

Key findings

  • The review reported diarrhea-related signals but emphasized low or very low certainty for many outcomes. Most pediatric trials used rectal administration.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Route and pediatric setting differ from adult oral supplementation; this does not validate self-treatment in children.

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Editorial review

Reviewed by the Biohack Blueprint research team

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Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability Dr. Abdulla Mostafa, PhDCellular Senescence, Neurological, Mitochondrial & Brain-Ageing Biology