Piperine protects oxidative modifications in human erythrocytes.

OBJECTIVES Piperine (1-piperoyl piperidine), a major alkaloid constituent of Piper nigrum L. and Piper longum L. has pleiotropic biological effects, but the mechanism(s) involved remain to be elucidated. The current study was conducted to examine the efficacy of antioxidant ability of piperine on t-BHP induced markers of oxidative stress in human erythrocytes. METHODS Healthy human erythrocytes and erythrocytes membrane was stressed with free radical inducer chemical; t-BHP (10-5 M), and the effects of piperine was measured against free radical mediated modification in lipid and protein content, -SH and GSH value with antioxidant potential. RESULTS The results demonstrate that treatment of erythrocytes with piperine (10-5 to 10-7 M) significantly (p<0.05) ameliorated the adverse consequences of oxidative stress as evidenced by prevention of oxidation of erythrocyte reduced glutathione, membrane thiols, proteins, and peroxidation of lipids; the effects were in correlation with ferric reducing and radical scavenging abilities of piperine. CONCLUSIONS The study concludes that piperine possesses potent anti-oxidant potential which may explain many of its observed biological effects.