BioPerine® has been clinically tested with several nutrient groups, including fat-soluble vitamins (ß-carotene), water-soluble vitamins (vitamin B6, vitamin C), selenoamino acid [L(+)-Selenomethionine], coenzyme Q10 and shown to significantly enhance the bioavailability of supplemented nutrients through increased absorption. Herbal extracts such as curcumin has also been absorbed better when co-administered with BioPerine®.
Following are some of the studies highlighting the bioavailability enhancing property of BioPerine®:
ß-Carotene
BioPerine® has been clinically tested with several nutrient groups, including fat-soluble vitamins (ß-carotene), water-soluble vitamins (vitamin B6, vitamin C), selenoamino acid [L(+)-Selenomethionine], coenzyme Q10 and shown to significantly enhance the bioavailability of supplemented nutrients through increased absorption. Herbal extracts such as curcumin has also been absorbed better when co-administered with BioPerine®.
In a double-blind, cross-over study small amount of BioPerine® (5 mg) combined with a formula containing 15 mg of ß-carotene, given as a food supplement once a day increased almost 2 – fold the blood levels of ß-Carotene in human volunteers.
However, a 60% increase in the area under the curve was observed during the experimental phase (ß-carotene + BioPerine®) compared to the control after 14-day supplementation.
Read More…CoQ10
Bioavailability of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) was evaluated with and without BioPerine® supplementation in a double-blind, single dose clinical study. After 21 days of supplementation, co-administration of BioPerine® resulted in an absolute increase in CoQ10 serum levels by 1.12 μg/ml as compared to the absolute increase of 0.85 μg/ml in the control group. A 30% increase was observed in the area under the curve of CoQ10 supplemented with BioPerine® compared to control.
A 30% increase was observed in the area under the curve of CoQ10 supplemented with BioPerine® compared to control.
Read More…Curcumin
A clinical study done at St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore, India and published in Planta Medica journal in 1997 provided clinical evidence of piperine’s role in increasing the bioavailability of Curcumin, and has become one of the most downloaded papers of that journal.
BioPerine® significantly improved the uptake of Curcumin—the healthful extract from turmeric roots with clinically validated efficacy in a wide range of health conditions ranging from inflammation to cancer.
Bioavailability of Curcumin (2000 mg) when co-administered with BioPerine® (20 mg) was enhanced by 20-fold or 2000% compared to bioavailability of Curcumin alone at doses that were devoid of adverse side effects.
Iron
Preclinical Study
An in vivo study was performed to establish and validate the bioavailability of organic elemental iron (BioIron) in combination with or without BioPerine®.
The study involved a single oral dose of BioIron with BioPerine® (group I) or BioIron without BioPerine® (group II) administration to rabbits, and blood samples were collected at different time points.
Results showed that at 8 h time point, serum concentration of iron was significantly higher in group treated with BioIron containing BioPerine® (36.55 ± 9.97 μg/ml) when compared to group treated with BioIron containing no BioPerine®.
Clinical Study
In an open-label, non-randomized study, 30 subjects were provided with BioIron™ tablet (containing 8.5 mg of elemental iron and 2.5 mg of BioPerine® ) twice a day as a dietary supplement for a period of 56 days.
It was evident that treatment of iron deficiency anemia with BioIron™ for 56 days showed a statistically significant increase in hematologic values. Blood hemoglobin level was improved significantly. A significant improvement in serum iron (could be correlated to the immediate release of iron from BioIron™ into the systemic circulation); total iron binding capacity and serum ferritin level was also observed (Fig. 1 and 2).
Overall, BioIron™ was safe and effective in the management of iron deficiency anemia without any adverse events.
Resveratrol
Preclinical Study
An in vivo study conducted by University of Wisconsin, USA showed that BioPerine® significantly improved the bioavailability of Resveratrol by 229% and the maximum serum concentration (Cmax) was increased by 1544%.
Clinical Study
Sixteen healthy young adults were recruited in a study, wherein effects of resveratrol and piperine supplementation in combination with exercise training on skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity was evaluated.
The volunteers were given pills containing placebo or resveratrol (500 mg) + BioPerine® (10 mg) combination for 4 weeks. All participants performed 3 sessions of sub-maximal endurance training of the wrist flexor muscles of the non-dominant arm every week. The contra-lateral arm served as an untrained control.
Study results suggested that combination group showed significant changes in mitochondrial capacity from baseline to post-testing (40 % increase) (∆k=0.58, p=0.001) and also compared with placebo (p<0.05) at week 4.
Overall, supplementation with resveratrol and BioPerine® combination might be helpful in enhancing forearm skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity during low-intensity exercise training.
Selenium
In a double-blind study, bioavailability of selenium was evaluated alone and in combination with BioPerine®. The serum selenium levels were approximately 30% higher in the group receiving selenium with BioPerine® after 2 weeks of treatment with a plateau in the subsequent time-points tested. The serum selenium levels were within normal limits in both groups at all time-points tested.
Vitamin B6
Bioavailability of vitamin B6 (100 mg) was evaluated with and without BioPerine®. At 2 h, the maximum serum levels of vitamin B6 was 2.5 times higher in the group receiving BioPerine® as compared to the control group. At 4 hours, vitamin B6 levels in the group receiving BioPerine® were 1.4 times higher as compared to the control group.
