A combination of berberine and γ-oryzanol for hyperlipidemia therapy: An hypothesis

Hyperlipidemia has been thought to be a modifiable risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), and the patients generally require a chronic medication and a diet or lifestyle regulation to manage their hyperlipidemia. Meanwhile, the numbers of patients suffering from side effects are also increasing. Thus, development of novel, potent, safe and highly effective approaches to battle the world epidemics of hyperlipidemia is of crucial importance. It was reported that berberine and γ-oryzanol could reduce total plasma cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels and increase the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, a novel hypothesis concerning the combination of berberine and γ-oryzanol for hyperlipidemia therapy is proposed. Moreover, if the poor bioavailability of berberine and γ-oryzanol can be improved, the primary hypothesis will be reasonable and feasible, and also, serve as the basis for further improvement in quality of hyperlipidemia management.   Key words: Hyperlipidemia, γ-oryzanol, berberine.