The potential therapeutic role of berberine in treating epilepsy focusing on temporal lobe epilepsy: State of art and ongoing perspective

Brain Res Bull. 2025 Jan 4:111189. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2025.111189. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Epilepsy is a neurological disease characterized by unprovoked recurrent epileptic seizures. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the commonest type of focal epilepsy in adults that resist to the conventional anti-seizure medications (ASMs). Interestingly, ASMs do not affect the epileptogenesis and progression of disease. Therefore, repurposing of natural products with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-seizure effects such as berberine (BRB) may be logical in treating refractory epilepsy and TLE. However, the molecular mechanism of BRB against the development of epilepsy and progression of epileptic seizure mainly in TLE was not fully elucidated. Therefore, we attempt in this review to discuss the potential underlying molecular mechanism of BRB against the development and progression of epilepsy mainly the TLE.

Keywords: Berberine; Epilepsy; Temporal lobe epilepsy.

Publication types

  • Review