Carcinogenicity Testing of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) Using the Egyptian Toad <i>(Bufo regularis) </i>as a Quick Biological Test Animal

Abstract

Milled black pepper (Piper nigrum) force-fed to Egyptian toads as a suspension in amphibian saline or injected subcutaneously in the dorsal lymph sac as an ethanol extract, induced primary tumours in the liver and secondary tumours in other organs (kidney and spleen). When applied to the skin of experimental animals as an ethanol extract, black pepper induced primary tumours in the liver and secondary tumours in the ileum and stomach. Tumours of the liver were diagnosed as hepatocellular carcinomas and those of the other organs as metastases of the primary liver tumours. It is speculated that one or more constituents of black pepper may be responsible for tumour induction in the organs of the Egyptian toad Bufo regularis.

Carcinogenic Effect of Force-Feeding an Extract of Black Pepper <i>(Piper nigrum) </i>in Egyptian Toads <i>(Bufo regularis)</i>

“…Together with a previous investigation [3], the re sults of the present work confirm the carcinogenic effect of a black pepper extract when applied to toads. The liver was the target organ for the carcinogenicity of black pepper.…”

“…In the present investigation, we ob tained new types of neoplastic lesions in the liver (fibrosarcomas and lymphosarcomas). These types of tumors were lacking in our previous work [3] in which the liver tumors were only hepatocellular carcinomas. Also, new sites for secondary tumors were obtained in this study (fast body and ovary).…”

“…It has been reported to induce tumors in mice [1.2] and toads [3], When applied to toads as a powder (feeding) or ex tract (skin painting and injection) black pepper was found to induce primary tumors in the liver and sec ondary tumors in other organs [3], In mice, each of painting [1,2] and feeding [2] of a black pepper extract induced a significant increase in the number of mice bearing tumors, while feeding the mice on a black pepper powder-containing diet had no significant car cinogenic effect [2], In a previous work [3], experimental toads were painted and injected, but not fed. with a black pepper extract.…”

“…Therefore, the present work was made to investigate the efTect of feeding this extract on the organs of toads ( Bufo regularis). Toads and frogs have been used by some authors for quick screening of carcinogenicity of chemicals [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”