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Several posts have discussed using a curcumin supplement with piperine (an extract of black pepper sold under the name Bioperine) in order to enhance the bioavailability of curcumin. Piperine inhibits several enzymes in CYP family, many of these are also utilized during drug metabolism. Thus, inhibiting these CYP family enzymes with piperine could lead to an inadvertant overdose of a prescription medication if one is taking it concurrently with a curcumin + piperine combination. Here's a blog article which discusses this problem and lists several medications which could be affected by piperine.

https://web.archive.org/web/20201107223 ... blog/?p=70

If one is taking a medication metabolized by a CYP family enzyme, then a safer alternative would be to use either Longvida curcumin or BCM-95 curcumin both of which have enhanced bioavailability but do not contain piperine. I take the Now Longvida curcumin.

Note: Here's is another article by the same author that discusses pipperine and curcumin.

https://web.archive.org/web/20191106193 ... blog/?p=56

NHE

Pharmacovigilance: effects of herbal components on human drugs interactions involving cytochrome P450.
Bioinformation. 2008;3(5):198-204.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP P450) enzymes are a superfamily of mono-oxygenases that are found in all kingdoms of life. The CYP P450 enzymes constitute a large superfamily of haem-thiolate proteins involved in the metabolism of a wide variety of both exogenous and endogenous compounds. The CYP activities have been shown to be involved in numerous interactions especially between drugs and herbal constituents. The majority of serious cases of drug interactions are as a result of the interference of the metabolic clearance of one drug by yet another co-administered drug, food or natural product. Gaining mechanistic knowledge towards such interactions has been accepted as an approach to avoid adverse reactions. The inductions and inhibition of CYP enzymes by natural products in the presence of a prescribed drug has led to adverse effects. Herbal medicines such as St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), garlic (Allium sativa), piperine (from Piper sp.), ginseng (Ginseng sp.), gingko (Gingko biloba), soya beans (Glycine max), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and grape fruit juice show clinical interactions when co-administered with medicines. This review documents the involvement of CYP enzymes in the metabolism of known available drugs and herbal products. We also document the interactions between herbal constituents & CYP enzymes showing potential drug-herb interactions. Data on CYP450 enzymes in activation (i.e. induction or inhibition) with natural constituents is also reviewed.

Free full text article.

Herbal interactions involving cytochrome p450 enzymes: a mini review.
Toxicol Rev. 2004;23(4):239-49.

The metabolism of a drug can be altered by another drug or foreign chemical, and such interactions can often be clinically significant. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, a superfamily of enzymes found mainly in the liver, are involved in the metabolism of a plethora of xenobiotics and have been shown to be involved in numerous interactions between drugs and food, herbs and other drugs. The observed induction and inhibition of CYP enzymes by natural products in the presence of a prescribed drug has (among other reasons) led to the general acceptance that natural therapies can have adverse effects, contrary to the popular beliefs in countries where there is an active practice of ethnomedicine. Herbal medicines such as St. John's wort, garlic, piperine, ginseng, and gingko, which are freely available over the counter, have given rise to serious clinical interactions when co-administered with prescription medicines. Such adversities have spurred various pre-clinical and in vitro investigations on a series of other herbal remedies, with their clinical relevance remaining to be established. Although the presence of numerous active ingredients in herbal medicines, foods and dietary supplements complicate experimentation, the observable interactions with CYP enzymes warrant systematic studies, so that metabolism-based interactions can be predicted and avoided more readily. This article highlights the involvement of CYP enzymes in metabolism-related drug-herb interactions and the importance of gaining a mechanism-based understanding to avoid potential adverse drug reactions, in addition to outlining other contributory factors, such as pharmacogenetics and recreational habits that may compound this important health issue.

Today, 5/24/2012, Kristin Kirkpatrick, RD, from the Cleveland Clinic, appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. In advocating that a person could lose weight by eating the same breakfast every day, she offered the example of a hard-cooked egg on a whole wheat English muffin with a 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. She mentioned that a brand new study finds that piperine, contained in black pepper, stops the formation of new fat cells.

About 2:30 in this 4 1/2 minute video: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/summer-s ... crets-pt-1

Could it be that stopping the formation of new fat cells plays a part in the cycle:
visceral fat => cytokines (adipokines) => insulin => inflammation => visceral fat…?