Tier 2 — strong

Randomized controlled trial of berberine sulfate therapy for diarrhea due to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae

Rabbani GH, Butler T, Knight J, Sanyal SC, Alam K

The Journal of infectious diseases 1987 155(5):979-984

Bibliography

PubMed: PMID 3549923
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/155.5.979
Funding: Funding was not established from the accessible source; this is not a declaration of no funding.
Competing interests: A complete competing-interest declaration was not available in the accessible source; no absence of conflicts is inferred.

Design	Randomized controlled human trial
Model	Human participants; see population
Sample	165 adults with ETEC diarrhea or cholera
Intervention	Berberine sulfate; 400-mg acute dose and separate tetracycline combination comparisons
Duration	Acute stool-output assessment over successive 8-hour periods
Endpoints	Eradication or stool-output outcomes; Treatment tolerability; Adherence

Berberine reduced selected ETEC diarrhea measures, while cholera effects were limited and adding it to tetracycline did not improve stool output.

Berberine reduced selected ETEC diarrhea measures, while cholera effects were limited and adding it to tetracycline did not improve stool output.

Historical pathogen-specific findings with a sulfate salt; not a general substitute for rehydration or infection management.

Source detail: indexed abstract and bibliographic record; unavailable methods or disclosures are identified rather than assumed.

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Last verified 22 October 2026