How a plant compound helps lower bad cholesterol
Tetrahydroberberrubine improves hyperlipidemia by activating the AMPK/SREBP2/PCSK9/LDL receptor signaling pathway.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
A compound called THBru, from a plant medicine, was given to mice that got fat from eating junk food. It helped their livers clean up bad cholesterol by turning on a special switch (AMPK) that tells the body to remove more bad cholesterol.
Surprising Findings
THBru directly binds AMPK—something rarely shown for plant-derived compounds.
Most herbal supplements have vague, multi-target effects; this one has a clear, single-protein target like a synthetic drug.
Practical Takeaways
Don’t take THBru supplements yet—it’s not available for humans and hasn’t been tested outside mice.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
A compound called THBru, from a plant medicine, was given to mice that got fat from eating junk food. It helped their livers clean up bad cholesterol by turning on a special switch (AMPK) that tells the body to remove more bad cholesterol.
Surprising Findings
THBru directly binds AMPK—something rarely shown for plant-derived compounds.
Most herbal supplements have vague, multi-target effects; this one has a clear, single-protein target like a synthetic drug.
Practical Takeaways
Don’t take THBru supplements yet—it’s not available for humans and hasn’t been tested outside mice.
Publication
Journal
European journal of pharmacology
Year
2025
Authors
Jing Feng, Run Xu, Zi-jia Dou, Yutong Hao, R. Xu, M. A. Khoso, Yang Shi, Ling Liu, Heyang Sun, Chen Chen, Xiaohan Li, Heng Liu, Weina Han, Ming Cheng, Pengcheng Tang, Junquan Li, Yong Zhang, Xin Liu
Related Content
Claims (6)
Berberine, a natural compound, tells your liver to grab more bad cholesterol (LDL) out of your blood by turning on a cellular energy sensor, helping lower your cholesterol levels.
Giving a natural compound called THBru to mice that eat a lot of fat helps their livers stay healthier and better manage fats in their blood.
Scientists think a compound called THBru might help the body burn fat better by activating a natural 'metabolism switch' called AMPK, and they saw this happen in mouse livers and human liver cells in a dish.
A natural compound called THBru might stick directly to a key energy sensor in liver cells, and scientists saw this happen in lab tests using mouse livers and human liver cells in a dish.
A natural compound called THBru may help lower bad cholesterol by turning down genes that block cholesterol removal and turning up the gene that helps the liver pull cholesterol out of the blood.