Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc. (fka RCPIQ)

[Buddhahead]

Berberine---may be worth looking at. Another natural ingredients big Pharma doesn't want you to know about. ~Has reduced my pre-diabetic blood sugar from the 120 to 140 range to below 100 after 4 weeks dosing at 400 mg/3 x day, before meals.

Excerpt from Wikipedia:
"Diabetes, dyslipidemias and cardiovascular conditions[edit]
During the last few decades, many studies have shown berberine has various beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system and significant anti-inflammatory activities.[19] A Canadian report suggested berberine can effectively reduce intracellular superoxide levels in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Such a restoration of cellular redox by berberine is mediated by its selective inhibition of gp91phox expression and enhancement of SOD activity.[20]
Berberine exerts up-regulating activity on both the low-density-lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and the insulin receptor (InsR). This one-drug-multiple-target characteristic might be suitable for the treatment of metabolic syndrome.[21][22]
Diabetes mellitus[edit]
Berberine has been tested and used successfully in experimental[23][24] and human diabetes mellitus.[25][26][27][28]
Berberine has been shown to lower elevated blood glucose as effectively as metformin.[29] The mechanisms of action include inhibition of aldose reductase,[30] inducing glycolysis,[31] preventing insulin resistance[32][33] through increasing insulin receptor expression[26] and acting like incretins.[34] A new study suggested berberine may overcome insulin resistance via modulating key molecules in insulin signaling pathway, leading to increased glucose uptake in insulin-resistant cells.[35]
Berberine might exert its insulinotropic effect in isolated rat islets by up-regulating the expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha, which probably acts solely or together with other HNFs to modulate glucokinase activity, rendering ß cells more sensitive to glucose fluctuation and to respond more effectively to glucose challenge.[36]
Berberine seems to inhibit human dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4), as well as the prodiabetic target human protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (h-PTP 1B), which explain at least some of its antihyperglycemic activities.[37] Berberine suppresses intestinal disaccharidases with beneficial metabolic effects in diabetic states.[38]
A recent comprehensive metabolomics method, applied to 60 type 2 diabetics, suggested administration of berberine down-regulates the high level of free fatty acids which are known to be toxic to the pancreas and cause insulin resistance. These results suggest berberine might play a pivotal role in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, concluded the authors.[25]
Berberine has been shown to boost the effects of metformin and 2,4-thiazolidinedione (TZD), and can partly replace the commercial drugs, which could lead to a reduction in toxicity and side effects of the latter.[39]
Berberine inhibits FOXO1,[40] which integrates insulin signaling with mitochondrial function. Inhibition of Foxo1 can improve hepatic metabolism during insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome.[41]"

"Cancer[edit]
Berberine has drawn extensive attention towards its antineoplastic effects.[64][65] It seems to suppress the growth of a wide variety of tumor cells, including breast cancer,[66] leukemia, melanoma,[67] epidermoid carcinoma, hepatoma, pancreatic cancer,[68] oral carcinoma, tongue carcinoma,[69] glioblastoma, prostate carcinoma and gastric carcinoma.[70][71] Animal studies have shown that berberine can suppress chemical-induced carcinogenesis, clastogenesis,[72] tumor promotion, tumor invasion,[73][74][75][76][77] prostate cancer,[78][79][80][81] neuroblastoma,[82][83] and leukemia.[49][84]
It is a radiosensitizer of tumor cells, but not of normal cells. How berberine mediates these effects is not fully understood, but its ability to inhibit angiogenesis and to modulate Mcl-1, Bcl-xL, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, MDR, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- and IL-6, iNOS, IL-12, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and ELAM-1 expression, MCP-1 and CINC-1, cyclin D1,[85] activator protein (AP-1), HIF-1, PPAR-, and topoisomerase II has been shown. By using yeast mutants, berberine was found to bind and inhibit stress-induced mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase activation. Because apoptotic, carcinogenic, and inflammatory effects and various gene products (such as TNF-a, IL-6, COX-2, adhesion molecules, cyclin D1, and MDR) modulated by berberine are regulated by the transcription factor nuclear factor- B (NF- B), it is postulated this pathway plays a major role in the action of berberine.[86] Berberine suppressed NF-?B activation induced by various inflammatory agents and carcinogens. This alkaloid also suppressed constitutive NF-?B activation found in certain tumor cells. It seems to protect against side effects of radiation therapy in lung cancer.[87] However, new studies suggest that while berberine decreases cell growth, it increases the side population (stem cell) fraction of H460 lung cancer cells.[88] In lung cancer it can also act through suppression of TGF-ß1-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.[89] Berberine enhances chemosensitivity to some chemotherapeutic agents like irinotecan .[90]"

Article at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berberine