Lack of genotoxic effects of piperine, (the active principle of black pepper) in albino mice.

The potency of piperine, the active principle of black pepper, to induce micronuclei in bone-marrow erythrocytes and dominant-lethal mutations was investigated in male mice. Preliminary studies indicated that piperine administered intraperitoneally to adult male mice at sublethal doses of 1, 2 or 4 mg/kg body wt. (1/20, 1/10 or 1/5 LD50) on 5 consecutive days did not induce any clinical signs of toxicity or any significant alterations in epididymal wt., testicular wt. or testicular histology. In bone-marrow micronucleus assay, piperine induced no significant increase in micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes, suggesting its nonclastogenic nature at tested doses. It also failed to induce dominant-lethal mutations during an 8-wk sequential mating schedule of males at a dosage of 4 mg/kg body wt./day for 5 days. Caudal sperm counts and the incidence of sperm-head abnormalities measured at 1, 3, 5 and 7 wk were not altered in piperine administered males at any of the doses.