A study published in the August Volume of Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Special Issue: Resveratrol - Current Status and Outlook) entitled Enhancing the bioavailability of resveratrol by combining it with piperine, found that the absorption of resveratrol was significantly increased when combined with piperine (black pepper extract) in lab mice. The resveratrol used in the study was Sabinsa's Resvenox^® and the piperine used was Sabinsa's patented ingredient BioPerine^®.

Poor bioavailability and rapid metabolism of resveratrol, one of the most touted natural compounds for human health and nutrition in recent times, is considered a major barrier in humans receiving the significant health benefits of resveratrol that have been found in mouse studies, with prohibitively large amounts needed for humans to realize the health promoting effects.

The study, conducted at the University of Wisconsin by Jeremy J. Johnson, Minakshi Nihal, Imtiaz A. Siddiqui, Cameron O. Scarlett, Howard H. Bailey, Hasan Mukhtar and Nihal Ahmad found that piperine significantly increases the bioavailability of Resveratrol by 229%. The maximum serum concentration for Resveratrol occurs at 0.25h with piperine and it is enhanced by 1544%. These results have led the researchers to speculate that this bioavailability enhancing effect of piperine will translate into lower amounts of Resveratrol being needed. These results have encouraged the researchers to plan a Phase I study using Resveratrol-Piperine combination. While piperine enhances the bioavailability of resveratrol, it decreases slightly the bioavailability of its major metabolite.

The Conclusion of the study read, "Our study demonstrated that piperine significantly improves the in vivo bioavailability of resveratrol." The authors are planning to conduct a similar clinical study in humans.

Link to article:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mnfr.201100117/abstract