The protective effect of berberine against lipopolysaccharide-induced abortion by modulation of inflammatory/immune responses

Objective: Berberine is an isoquinoline derivative alkaloid with anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of berberine in prevention of LPS-induced abortion. Materials and methods: On the gestation day (GD) 9.5, the pregnant mice were injected with low, medium, and high doses of berberine or with PBS. After 4h, berberine or PBS-pretreated mice were injected with LPS. On GD 11.5, blood samples and uterine tissues were collected from treated mice and percentage of abortion and serum levels of NO, TNF-alpha, IL-10, and IL12p70 were measured by macroscopic examination and sandwich ELISA, respectively. Results: Our findings show that mice injected with berberine were resistant to LPS-induced abortion. We also found that this treatment prevents the reduction of IL-10 and the enhancement of NO, TNF-alpha, and IL-12p70 in LPS-treated pregnant mice. Conclusions: Taken together, our results suggest that berberine as an anti-inflammatory agent has protective effects on LPS-induced abortion by modulation of inflammatory/immune responses.