Effect of piperine in the regulation of obesity-induced dyslipidemia in high-fat diet rats

Objective: The present study was undertaken to explore the effect of piperine in obesity-induced dyslipidemia. Materials and Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed high-fat diet (HFD) for the first eight weeks, to develop obesity-induced dyslipidemia. Later on piperine (40 mg/kg) and sibutramine (5 mg/kg) were administered for three weeks along with the continuation of HFD to two separate groups, which served as the test and standard groups, respectively. Body weight, food intake, serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL, and HDL were measured at the end of the fourth, eighth (before treatment), and eleventh (after treatment) week, while the fat mass was measured at the end of the eleventh week in the normal, HFD-control, test, and standard groups. Results: Supplementing piperine with HFD significantly reduced not only body weight, triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL, and fat mass, but also increased the HDL levels, with no change in food intake. Conclusion: The above results suggest that piperine possesses potential fat reducing and lipid lowering effects, without any change in food appetite, at a small dose of 40 mg/kg. The mechanism of action for such an activity needs to be determined. However, looking to structural similarity with the presently known Melanocortin-4 (MC-4) agonists, involvement of MC-4 receptors in its activity can be guessed.