Berberine is an alkaloid extracted from medicinal plants such as Coptis chinensis and Phellodendron chinense. It possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and anti-oxidation properties, and regulates Glc and lipid metabolism. This study explored the mechanisms of the protective effects of berberine on barrier function and inflammatory damage in porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) induced by LPS. We first evaluated the effects of berberine and LPS on cell viability. IPEC-J2 cells were treated with 5 μg/ml LPS for 1 h to establish an inflammatory model, and 75, 150 and 250 μg/ml berberine were used in further experiments. The expression of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α was measured by RT-PCR. The key proteins of the NF-κB/MAPK signalling pathway (IκBα, p-IκBα, p65, p-p65, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p-JNK, p38, p-p38, ERK1/2 and p-ERK1/2) were detected by Western blot. Upon exposure to LPS, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α mRNA levels and p-IκBα p-p65 protein levels were significantly enhanced. Pre-treatment with berberine reduced the expression of inflammatory factors and was positively correlated with its concentration, and dose dependently inhibited the expression of IκBα, p-IκBα, p-p65, p-p38 and JNK. These results demonstrated that pre-treating intestinal epithelial cells with berberine was useful in preventing and treating diarrhoea induced by Escherichia coli in weaned pigs.

黄连素是从黄连、黄柏等药用植物中提取的生物碱. 它具有抗炎、抗肿瘤和抗氧化特性，并调节 Glc 和脂质代谢。本研究探讨了小檗碱对LPS诱导的猪肠上皮细胞(IPEC-J2)屏障功能和炎症损伤的保护作用机制。我们首先评估了小檗碱和 LPS 对细胞活力的影响。IPEC-J2细胞用5 μg/ml LPS处理1 h建立炎症模型，75、150和250 μg/ml小檗碱用于进一步实验。通过RT-PCR测量IL-1β、IL-6和TNF-α的表达。NF-κB/MAPK 信号通路的关键蛋白（IκBα、p-IκBα、p65、p-p65、c-Jun N-末端激酶 (JNK)、p-JNK、p38、p-p38、ERK1/2 和p-ERK1/2) 通过蛋白质印迹检测。暴露于 LPS 后，IL-1β，IL-6 和 TNF-α mRNA 水平和 p-IκBα p-p65 蛋白水平显着增强。小檗碱预处理降低炎症因子的表达并与其浓度呈正相关，剂量依赖性抑制IκBα、p-IκBα、p-p65、p-p38和JNK的表达。这些结果表明用小檗碱预处理肠上皮细胞有助于预防和治疗由小檗碱引起的腹泻。断奶猪中的大肠杆菌。