Bitter plant compound calms bone-destroying cells via taste receptor
Zhang Z, Li Z, Liu J, Li Y, Jia Y
Medicinal Plants
The bitter compounds in plants like goldenseal and barberry that make them unpalatable to browsing animals turn out to switch off inflammation in your own cells, a reminder that bitterness often signals a plant's chemistry is doing real work.
Berberine is a bitter-tasting compound found in plants like barberry and goldenseal, and it's long been used in herbal medicine. Researchers discovered that immune cells in mouse bone marrow carry the same 'bitter taste' sensors found on your tongue, and when berberine switches one of these sensors on, it tells the cells to stop breaking down bone. In mice, this same trick reduced bone loss from inflammation and gum disease, suggesting bitter plant chemicals talk to our bodies in ways that go far beyond taste.
Key Findings
Mouse bone marrow immune cells (BMDMs) express multiple bitter taste receptors, with Tas2r126 being the most highly expressed
Berberine activates Tas2r126, triggering the Gnat3/cAMP/NF-κB p65 pathway to suppress osteoclast (bone-resorbing cell) differentiation
In mouse models of systemic inflammation and periapical periodontitis, berberine's bone-protective effect depended on Gα-gustducin (Gnat3) signaling
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that berberine, a bitter plant compound, triggers a 'bitter taste' receptor on immune cells to calm the overactive bone-destroying process behind inflammatory bone loss, including gum disease, in mice.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Berberine inhibits inflammatory bone resorption via bitter taste receptors.
Extra-gustatory bitter taste receptors (Tas2rs) have been identified as critical regulators of host inflammation and immune responses. Berberine, a bitter natural alkaloid, has demonstrated effecti...
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Berberis, commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1–5 m tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Species diversity is greatest in South America and Asia, but native species also appear in Europe, Africa and North America.