The Anti-mutagenic Activity of Piperine against Mitomycine C induced Sister Chromatid Exchanges and Chromosomal Aberrations in Mice

Piperine is a major pungent substance and active component of black pepper (Piper nigrum Linn.) and long pepper (Piper longum Linn.). Regarding the variable biological activities of piperine, it is important to study its antimutagenic activity in somatic and germ cells in vivo. Swiss albino male mice were orally administered piperine at the doses of 5, 10 and 15mg/kg b. wt. for three consecutive days then treated with mitomycin C (MMC) interaperitonealy (i.p.) at a dose of 1mg/kg b. wt. Twenty-four hours thereafter, all animals were sacrificed and samples were collected from somatic and germ cells for chromosomal aberrations (CA) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs). Piperine inhibited the frequency of SCEs induced by MMC in bone marrow cells. This inhibition reached to 41.82% with piperine (15mg /kg b.wt.). The number of chromosomal aberrations induced by MMC in mouse splenocytes and spermatocytes decreased gradually with increasing the dose of piperine. The percentage of inhibition of chromosomal aberrations was 50% and 40.78% in splenocytes and spermatocytes respectively. In conclusion, the results of this in vivo study show that piperine has antimutagenic potential against carcinogens. Further investigations are required now to underlie the molecular mechanisms of piperine bioactivity. [Nature and Science 2009; 7(12): 72-78]. (ISSN: