Sareeya Wongpa. Effect of piperine on the mutagen-induced chromosome aberrations in rat bone marrow cells . Master's Degree(Toxicology). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2006.
Effect of piperine on the mutagen-induced chromosome aberrations in rat bone marrow cells
Abstract:
Piperine is a major pungent substance and active component of black pepper (Piper nigrum Linn.) and long pepper (Piper longum Linn.). Both plants are used worldwide as household spices for instance as food additives and condiments. They are also used as important ingredients in folklore medicine in many Asian countries. Therefore, it is of interest to study the toxic effect of piperine, particularly its genotoxic effect. In this study, the effect of piperine on the chromosomes of rat bone marrow cells was investigated. Male Wistar rats were orally administered piperine at the doses of 100, 400 and 800 mg/kg BW, respectively. Twenty-four hours after treatment, the bone marrow cells were isolated from their femora for chromosomal analysis. The results of this study demonstrated that piperine at the given doses did not cause chromosome aberrations when compared to the control. However, piperine at the given doses could significantly reduce mitotic index. This means that piperine at these doses may have some cytotoxic effect on bone marrow cells. In addition, the effects of piperine on the cyclophosphamide (CP) and mitomycin C (MC) induced chromosome aberrations were also studied. Male Wistar rats were orally administered piperine at the doses of 100, 400 and 800 mg/kg BW for 24 hours then challenged with CP at a dose of 50 mg/kg BW or MC at a dose of 5 mg/kg BW, both by intraperitoneal injection (i.p.). Twenty-four hours after CP or MC treatment, all animals were sacrificed and bone marrow contents were collected for chromosomal analysis. The results showed that piperine at a dose of 100 mg/kg BW gave a statistically significant reduction in CP-induced chromosome aberrations when compared to CP-treatment alone. Moreover, piperine at a dose of 800 mg/kg BW showed a statistically significant reduction in MC-induced chromosome aberrations when compared to MC-treatment alone. In conclusion, piperine at the given doses did not cause chromosome aberrations. Piperine at the lowest and highest doses also decreased chromosome aberrations induced by CP and MC, respectively. The safety evaluation of piperine in human consumption and the possible mechanism piperine utilizes to decrease chromosome aberrations, induced by CP or MC, is discussed.