Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria (27 page)

There is a tendency, because of the berberine plants' poor absorption across the intestinal mucosa, to increase the dose of the plants substantially to try to get more alkaloids into the bloodstream.
This is a very bad idea.
Abdominal cramping, nervous tremors, and, most importantly, excessive drying of the mucous membranes will occur at high doses. Do not attempt to use these herbs as systemics.

The berberines are synergistic (or additive) with a number of pharmaceuticals such as fluconazole, ampicillin, and oxacillin. Repeated use of berberine
may
reduce the GI tract absorption of permeability glycoprotein (P-gp) substrates including chemotherapeutic agents such as daunomycin. Berberine intake will
increase
the absorption of cyclosporine A if it is taken after long-term berberine use: One study showed that 3 mg/kg of berberine in six human volunteers taken twice daily for 10 days increased the bioavailability of cyclosporine A by 19 percent. A randomized, clinical trial of 52 renal transplant patients for 3 months found that constant berberine intake significantly increased the amount of cyclosporine A in blood plasma.

Conversely, P-gp inhibitors, such as piperine, will substantially increase (by six times) the uptake of berberine across the intestinal mucosa. Sodium caprate, for example, will do so as well.

Glutin, a fraction isolated from gluten,
increases
the transport of berberine alkaloids across the mucosa. Eating gluten-rich foods
may
increase the amount of berberine-type alkaloids moving across the intestinal mucosa. Gum arabic inhibits the crossing of most alkaloids other than berberine. Coptis interferes with the movement of constituents from radix scutellariae (
Scutellaria baicalensis
) across the intestinal membrane.

I will primarily look at just three plants here:
Phellodendron, Berberis, Mahonia.

Phellodendron amurense
is a rather impressive deciduous tree (
deciduous
simply means “falling” because it loses its leaves in the fall); it is a native of Manchuria. It was introduced into the United States as an ornamental in the 1870s and escaped into urban fringe forests in New York State and Pennsylvania. It easily moves into multiple forest types and densities. It is now considered invasive in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia.

The tree grows to 60 feet tall (largest found was 90 feet, or 30 m) with a fairly short, wide trunk from which the tree begins branching almost immediately, giving it a widely spreading full canopy to 40 feet in diameter. The trunk has a deeply ridged and corky outer bark. The name
phellodendron
means “cork tree” (
phellos
meaning “cork,”
dendron
meaning “tree”). So the plant is sometimes referred to as the corktree or the Amur corktree (from the region in Manchuria from which it comes). The female tree produces clusters of grape-like fruits (each containing two to five seeds) that possess a strong odor so that often only the male plants are cultivated, usually as a sterile cultivar, the so-called macho hybrid (rather oxymoronic).

The fruits have a high sugar content and are good food sources for birds and other animals, who routinely spread the seed far and wide. The leaves are edible and sometimes used in salads, soups, stews, and as a tea. The tree's primary use in the United States has been as a shade tree and ornamental. The bark has been used as a cork source (though a poor one); the tree is often used for lumber in China; the berries and inner bark are the source of several dyes; the fruits are used in insecticides, soaps, and lubricants. The inner bark is what is used medicinally. It is a good tree for bees and helps restore damaged soils when planted along with
Pinus sylvestris
.

Both
Berberis thunbergii
, Japanese barberry, and
B. vulgaris
, common barberry, are introduced plants. Both are invasive here and there, Japanese barberry the most so. It is considered an invasive throughout
the upper Midwest and Northeast—20 states and the District of Columbia altogether. Both it and common barberry outcompete the only native barberry,
Berberis canadensis
, which is slowly disappearing. Nor do wildlife like to browse the introduced species.
Berberis
species are abundant in nearly every state, except Texas, Florida, Nevada, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

Japanese barberry forms dense stands in woodlands, canopy forests, wetlands, pastures, and meadows. The leaves are prickly (hence “barb” berry) and look a bit like holly leaves, and whitetail deer studiously avoid the plant. The plant grows up to 15 feet in height. The fruits are edible and were often used for jams.

Mahonias are very similar in appearance.
Mahonia aquifolium
is mostly found on the East Coast, from Georgia up into Canada, and on the West Coast from California up into Canada and eastward into Montana.
Mahonia repens
is widely spread from the Mississippi River west, from Texas into Canada and a bit around the Great Lakes.
Mahonia fremontii
is in the southwest, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California.
Mahonia bealii
is located throughout the Southeast. It is strongly present in most states except the extreme Northeast and the central plains into Louisiana and Mississippi.

Mahonias and the barberries, one or the other, grow in nearly every state in the United States. If you add in the phellodendrons, you can find a berberine plant just about anyplace. And, of course, all three genera are common in much of the world. The
Berberis
genus is very prolific, with a lot of diversity, in Africa, South America, and Asia. The mahonias are prolific in eastern Asia, North America, and Central America and have been widely planted throughout Europe.
Phellodendron
is widely dispersed in Asia, Russia, Europe, and North America.

Phellodendron
tolerates a great many soil types and transplants easily. It does take a while to recover from transplanting, so it is usually
planted in spring. Most people buy saplings for planting, but the seeds germinate easily (better with stratification) and sprout well; the plant is a strong grower. The seeds are highly allelopathic, killing off competing plants and protecting their growing zone. The tree spreads fairly easily once established—if you don't get the sterile cultivar. (“Macho”—how can it be macho? I don't get it.)

The root system is fairly shallow, so it needs room to spread. The tree loves disturbed areas and full sun, and it will tolerate most soils (sand, loam, clay, acidic, alkaline) and likes them well drained, occasionally wet. It is highly tolerant of drought and cold, resistant to nearly all pests, and likes it in Zones 3 through 7, which includes most of the United States except for the extreme South, Southwest, and Pacific coastline. The tree takes 7 to 13 years to set seed.

The inner bark may be harvested for medicinal use at any time, but when harvested in spring (April 4 through 20 in China), the inner and outer bark is more easily removed. Cut limbs are the best source of the bark unless for some reason you need to cut a whole tree. In regions where purists are trying to exterminate
Phellodendron
as an alien invader, you may be able to obtain whole trees from which to harvest considerable amounts. The outer bark is removed and abandoned and then the inner bark peeled off, cut into slices, and dried. Sometimes, no one knows why, the Chinese fry it with salt during the drying process (studies have found no difference in the strength of the resulting herb). In China they dry it in the sun, but I prefer it in a shady, dry location in the herb room myself.

Japanese barberry is shade tolerant, is drought and cold resistant, loves disturbed ecosystems, loves sunlight, and can seemingly grow just about anyplace. The plant spreads by seeds (which are themselves spread by birds and animals eating the fruit and excreting the seeds over a wide range), root and branch cuttings, live branches touching the ground, and root spread. Any root left in the ground will resprout. It is a prolific seed producer; the seeds have a 90 percent germination rate. It forms dense stands wherever it takes root in the wild and is very hard to eradicate. Ticks infected with
Borrelia
(Lyme disease)
love the thick stands of the plants and are often densely present in them.

The plant's wood is very strong, so it has to be cut into small (1 inch or less) segments while still fresh. Don't do it later unless you have a dedicated wood chipper to use for your medicinals (or a meth addict friend with an axe—well, better stick with the chipper). Scrape your fingernail along the bark of the sections you intend to harvest. When the outer bark scrapes off, the inner bark should be yellow; if not, don't use it. The roots are tough to dig but have the highest alkaloid content. Use a tough, indestructible shovel (no wooden handles), long-handled clippers, a pickaxe, sweat, determination, and profanity. The outer bark of the roots is the most potent, but many people use the whole thing, chopped small and then cut and sifted, to make tinctures. It's easier.

Harvest the plant in autumn. With a good-sized plant, the roots and lower branches should last you a very long time. Dry well in the shade, and store in plastic bags inside plastic tubs, in a dark, dry location.

Mahonias are handled identically to barberries for medicine making, harvesting, and cultivation.

The chemistry of the various berberine-containing plants differs a bit even though they are all used similarly. Over time, familiarity with the individual species allows a much more sophisticated use of the plants. This section will only highlight some of the major plant constituents in some of the species, beginning with the berberine content.

Coptis teeta
has about the highest percentage of berberine of all plants—from 8 percent to 9 percent in the rhizome.
C. chinensis
runs 4 percent to 8 percent.
Berberis aristata
, as far as I can tell, has the most berberine in its genus, about 5 percent in the roots and 4 percent in the lower stems.
B. vulgaris
, the most commonly used species, has 1 percent to 1.5 percent berberine in its roots, about one-tenth of that in its stems, even less in the leaves.
B. croatica
is about the same.
Hydrastis canadensis
root contains about 3.4 percent berberine and
2.5 percent hydrastine. The leaves contain about 1.5 percent berberine and 0.5 percent hydrastine. The older the
Hydrastis
plants, the more they contain. Fall plants are stronger.

Phellodendron amurense
bark runs about 3 percent to 4 percent berberine.
P. wilsonii
and
P. sachalinense
are reputed to contain the most berberine, followed by
P. chinense
.

Phellodendron
species contain berberine, oxyberberine, epiberberine, caffeic acid ethyl ester, isovanillin, ferulic acid, dimethoxylariciresinol, methyl-beta-orsellinate, limonin (about 1 percent of the plant) and various other liminoids (obakunone, nomilin, etc.), 12-alpha-hydroxylimonin, gamma-fagarine, cathin-6-one, 4-methoxy-N-methyl-1-quinoline, palmatine, oxypalmatine, lyoniresinol, beta-sitosterol, stigmasterine, amurenlactone A, amurenamide A, phellodensins, various phellodenols, magnoflorine, jatorrhizine, various coumarins, phellodendrine, phellodendric acid, various quercetins, platydesmin, skimmianine, chilenine, and pteleine.

The five major alkaloids in the plant are considered to be berberine (about 80 percent of total alkaloids), palmatine, jatrorrhizine, phellodendrine, and magnoflorine.

The other berberine-containing plants have just as complex a chemistry though their alkaloids tend to be a bit different. They all do similar things.

The plants are used around the world in very similar ways, the main differences being that both
Corydalis
and
Argemone
species contain either opioid or opioid-like constituents, making them very useful for pain relief in addition to their other functions.

Although the different berberine-containing plants will have unique applications when you get more sophisticated in their use, for my purposes here—the treatment of resistant GI tract infections with presenting dysentery or severe diarrhea (bloody or not), resistant infections of the mouth and throat, and skin infections—all the plants work similarly. From a look at their traditional uses, you can see
that healers for the past several thousand years in every geographical region have found similar uses for all the berberines.