Black Pepper in Diarrhoea and Intestinal Spasm

Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) is a wonderful spice with a rich history and many uses in the kitchen and in the medicine. In traditional medicine, black pepper has been used for digestive disorders, such as indigestion, vomiting, diarrhoea, and flatulence. Present study was carried out to investigate the antidiarrhoeal and antispasmodic effect and different mechanisms of antidiarrhoeal and antispasmodic action of black pepper. Antidiarrhoeal activity of black pepper was studied in mice in diarrhoea induced by castor oil model, magnesium sulphate induced diarrhoea model, Charcoal meal test for intestinal motility, castor oil induced intraluminal fluid accumulation test. Involvement of potassium channels, nitric oxide pathway and 2 adrenergic receptors were studied in mice for antidiarrhoeal activity of black pepper. Effect of black pepper on muscarinic receptors, ganglionic receptors, histamine receptors and calcium channels in isolated guinea pig ileum was also studied to check the antispasmodic effect. This Book summarized the possible mechanisms of antidiarrhoeal and antispasmodic activity of black pepper.