AMPK Activation, mitochondria and Berberine

[Jenny TipsforME]

I've recently been researching things that may help with walking for my blog and wanted to pick your informed brains about Berberine because this seems interesting for a number of reasons.

This is the context from my blog

Failure of AMPK Activation
Julia Newton’s team recently published a paper which showed that 5′ AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) doesn’t activate normally during exercise in CFS. This is related to mitochondrial function and how we use glucose.
Things that could help:
Berberine, Galegine (Galega officinalis, herb), panax ginseng, curcumin, coptis chinensis (TCM), green tea, black tea, snow lotus

Salicylate based drugs (aspirin is in this category but I’m confused about whether it helps or not)

Quercetin which is in onions, red grapes, wine, ginkgo biloba. It may be bad for memory. Combine with green tea and caffeine for improved exercise performance? Shows improved VO2 Max combined with other antioxidants. Has low bioavailability.

Resveratrol which is in wines especially red Bordeaux (but alcohol generally has bad effects for pwme so you may need to use in cooking which reduces resveratrol by half); grapes; raspberries; plums; grape tomatoes; peanuts and cocoa powder (yum!)

Substances which protect plants against infection seem to increase AMPK
Read more:
Resveratrol – Scientific Review| Examine.com
Quercetin – Exercise Performance | Examine.com
Berberine -ampk Antidepressive Glucose Adrenergic Receptors Vasorelaxer
Ampk Incl Poss Tips| Diabetes

https://tipsforme.wordpress.com/2015/10/19/resource-walking-problems/#ampk

Berberine is a substance in plants but it can be bought as a fairly affordable supplement.

It seems to have a range of benefits and I've seen on other threads pwme take it for other reasons. If you take it have you noticed any benefit in terms of muscle energy? Why do you take it? If you know of it, but don't use it why?

Sciencey folk - is this the medication alluded to in the AMPK exercise paper? It says a drug already exists but I'm just trying to connect the dots.

BTW these are other potential benefits

http://www.drmyattswellnessclub.com/Berberine.htm

Actions of Berberine:

• 1. Broad-spectrum anti-microbial: (1-6, 60)
  Berberine has been found to be an effective against:
• Chlamydia
• Candida (multiple species)
• E. coli
• Salmonella typhi
• Entamoeba histolytica
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Streptococcus sanguis
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Helicobacter pylori
• other Gram-positive bacteria and fungi
• Some studies suggest that goldenseal may also be effective against viruses, fungi, protozoans, helminths (worms) and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
  aureus)
• 2. Blood sugar regulation / diabetes type II. Some studies have shown that berberine lowers blood sugar as effectively as the diabetes drug metformin. (7-18)
• 3. Cholesterol-lowering effects. Studies show lipid-lowering effects on total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL cholesterol. (19-26)
• 4. Cardiac effects. Berbeine has been found to haveanti-arrhythmic effects and may also be useful for CHF(congestive heart failure). (27-34)
• 5. Anti-cancer effects. Berberine has been found to have anti-neoplastic effects against a wide variety of cancer cell types including brain, bladder, breast, bone, colon, liver, lung, prostate, skin cancer and leukemia. (35-59

 

[ahmo]

Berberine is hard on the liver, not good for extended use, as far as I know. I used it w/ other natural anti-bacterials, using each 4 days at a time, over a couple months.

 

[adreno]

Lipoic acid increase AMPK.

 

[sillysocks84]

clostridium butyricum is a probiotic that apparently can. If you have mercury issues ala can worsen symptoms unless you include it as a part of a protocol.

 

[sillysocks84]

Is lipoic acid different from alpha lipoic acid?

 

[adreno]

Is lipoic acid different from alpha lipoic acid?

No.

 

[Jenny TipsforME]

Berberine is hard on the liver, not good for extended use, as far as I know. I used it w/ other natural anti-bacterials, using each 4 days at a time, over a couple months.

@ahmo did you notice any impact on muscles or blood sugar?

 

[ahmo]

@Jenny TipsforME No, I didn't notice any. Mind you, I was engaged in intensive detox/elimination, and that's about all I could focus on.

 

[Jenny TipsforME]

@ahmo it is very hard to keep track of everything, especially with fluctuations being the norm as well.

@adreno I'll look up lipoic acid (I think this is on Myhill's list of mitochondria supplements).

@sillysocks84 clostridium butyricum I've not heard of but interesting it's a probiotic too

Berberine caught my attention because it seemed to do a few things at once. This obviously makes it more cost effective but also with so many symptoms I think that anything getting to root problems would knock out at least a handful of symptoms rather than one at a time.

 

[Jenny TipsforME]

Yes CB seems to be in this category of doing several things at once. From another thread @adreno said:

"Some effects of CB off the top of my head:

- increases Tregs
- shifts TH2 -> TH1
- TLR4 antagonist
- increases IL-10
- increases AMPK
- butyrate producer
- reduces lactate
- normalizes microflora
- displaces pathogens (h. pylori, candida, e. coli, c. difficile, etc"

 

[adreno]

Alpha-lipoic acid increases insulin sensitivity by activating AMPK in skeletal muscle.