Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33863898›Full record

ArticleNPJ biofilms and microbiomes2021

Berberine attenuates choline-induced atherosclerosis by inhibiting trimethylamine and trimethylamine-N-oxide production via manipulating the gut microbiome.

Xingxing Li, Chunyan Su, Zhibo Jiang, Yuxin Yang, Yue Zhang, Mengxia Yang, Xiumin Zhang, Yu Du, Jin Zhang, Li Wang and 2 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ biofilms and microbiomes, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
89citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
16.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

89 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 135 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. Glycyrrhizic Acid Alleviates Atherosclerosis inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Article
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  20. Trimethylamine-Annals of medicine · 2025
    Review

29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Xingxing Li *NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Chunyan Su *NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Zhibo JiangNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Yuxin YangNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Yue ZhangNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Mengxia YangNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Xiumin ZhangNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Yu DuNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Jin ZhangNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Li WangNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. wangli_imb@163.com.
Jiandong JiangNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. jiang.jdong@163.com.ORCID 0000-0003-1173-685X
Bin HongNHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. binhong69@hotmail.com.ORCID 0000-0001-6244-8298
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a derivative from the gut microbiota metabolite trimethylamine (TMA), has been identified to be an independent risk factor for promoting atherosclerosis. Evidences suggest that berberine (BBR) could be used to treat obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis, however, its mechanism is not clear mainly because of its poor oral bioavailability. Here, we show that BBR attenuated TMA/TMAO production in the C57BL/6J and ApoE KO mice fed with choline-supplemented chow diet, and mitigated atherosclerotic lesion areas in ApoE KO mice. Inhibition of TMA/TMAO production by BBR-modulated gut microbiota was proved by a single-dose administration of d9-choline in vivo. Metagenomic analysis of cecal contents demonstrated that BBR altered gut microbiota composition, microbiome functionality, and cutC/cntA gene abundance. Furthermore, BBR was shown to inhibit choline-to-TMA conversion in TMA-producing bacteria in vitro and in gut microbial consortium from fecal samples of choline-fed mice and human volunteers, and the result was confirmed by transplantation of TMA-producing bacteria in mice. These results offer new insights into the mechanisms responsible for the anti-atherosclerosis effects of BBR, which inhibits commensal microbial TMA production via gut microbiota remodeling.

Indexed as

AnimalsAtherosclerosisBerberineCholineDietDisease Models, AnimalDisease SusceptibilityDysbiosisGastrointestinal MicrobiomeMethylaminesMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMice, Knockout, ApoEBerberineCholineMethylaminestrimethylaminetrimethyloxamine

Identifiers

PMID33863898
PMCPMC8052457
OpenAlexW3153439992

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.