Tier 2 — strong

Efficacy and safety of berberine on the components of metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials

Liu D, Zhao H, Zhang Y, Hu J, Xu H
Frontiers in pharmacology 2025 16:1572197

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 40740996
PubMed Central
PMC12307485
DOI
10.3389/fphar.2025.1572197
Funding
Reported funding sources: China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine 10.13039/501100005893. Grant and funder-role details are in the publication.
Competing interests
The authors declared no competing interests in the publication.

Study snapshot

DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis
ModelPublished human studies
SamplePlacebo-controlled randomized trials; see full review for outcome-specific counts
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 synthesis found improvements in triglycerides, fasting glucose and waist circumference, while HDL and blood-pressure differences were not significant.

Key findings

  • The synthesis found improvements in triglycerides, fasting glucose and waist circumference, while HDL and blood-pressure differences were not significant.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Surrogate outcomes, heterogeneity and short trials limit certainty. Null pressure findings should be preserved alongside positive metabolic results.

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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