Piperine

Piperine is the primary pungent alkaloid isolated from the fruit of black peppercorns. It displays a variety of therapeutic activities such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-asthmatic, anti-convulsant, anti-mutagenic, antimycobacterial, anti-amoebic, and anti-cancer activities. Piperine affects cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoforms, inhibiting CYP3A species (Ki ~ 5 µM) and increasing expression of CYP1A and CYP2B in liver. It also has a biphasic effect on P-glycoprotein activity.