Cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (CVMD) are the leading causes of death worldwide, underscoring the urgent necessity to develop new pharmacotherapies. Berberine (BBR) is an eminent component of traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for more than 2000 years. Recently, BBR has attracted much interest for its pharmacological actions in treating and/or managing CVMD. Recent discoveries of basic, translational and clinical studies have identified many novel molecular targets of BBR (such as AMPK, SIRT1, LDLR, PCSK9, and PTP1B) and provided novel evidences supporting the promising therapeutic potential of BBR to combat CVMD. Thus, this review provides a timely overview of the pharmacological properties and therapeutic application of BBR in CVMD, and underlines recent pharmacological advances which validate BBR as a promising lead drug against CVMD.

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death worldwide, but its pathogenesis is not yet clear. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is considered to be the third most important endogenous gasotransmitter in the organism after carbon monoxide and nitric oxide. It can be synthesized in mammalian tissues and can freely cross the cell membrane and exert many biological effects in various systems including cardiovascular system. More and more recent studies have supported the protective effects of endogenous H₂S and exogenous H₂S-releasing compounds (such as NaHS, Na₂S, and GYY4137) in cardiovascular diseases, such as cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, ischemia/reperfusion injury, and atherosclerosis. Here, we provided an up-to-date overview of the mechanistic actions of H₂S as well as the therapeutic potential of various classes of H₂S donors in treating cardiovascular diseases.

SIRT6 is a member of the sirtuin family of class III histone deacetylases. It plays important roles in regulating genomic stability, metabolism, stress response and aging. Our previous study has revealed that SIRT6 attenuates myocardial hypertrophy by inhibiting NF-κB activation, but the related molecular mechanisms remain to be clarified. In the present study, we showed that the p300 acetylase was involved in the protective effect of SIRT6 against phenylephrine (PE)-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. In cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, the expression and activity of SIRT6 declined following PE treatment, while the protein level of p300 was upregulated. PE triggered significant hypertrophic responses as manifested by increase in cellular surface area and expression of hypertrophy marker genes, which could be blocked by SIRT6 overexpression. Mechanistically, SIRT6 reduced p300 protein expression via promoting its degradation, which could be attributed to the suppression of PI3K/Akt signaling. The downregulation of p300 protein level by SIRT6 subsequently decreased the acetylation and transcriptional activity of NF-κB p65 subunit. These findings help to further understand mechanisms underlying the anti-hypertrophic role of SIRT6 and suggest the potential of SIRT6 as a therapeutic target for cardiac hypertrophy.