Doctor's Opinion
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LATEST RESEARCH ON CAPSAICIN

A proportion of sensory C-fibres is characterized by sensitivity to the pungent agent in hot peppers, capsaicin. Upon stimulation by capsaicin, co-stored peptides including calcitonin gene-related peptides (CGRP), are released from the peripheral terminals of these fibres.  In addition to capsaicin other noxious/painful stimuli and conditions such as low pH, ischaemia, nicotine and bradykinin can cause release of CGRP from capsaicin - sensitive afferent nerves.  CGRP - immuno-reactive nerve fibres occur throughout the cardiovascular system, including the heart where the highest amounts of CGRP have been detected along the coronary arteries and in the atria.  In various species and experimental models, CGRP has proven to be the most potent vasodilator yet discovered.

Goran Kallner
Royal Karolinska Medico
Chirurgiska Institutet

EXPRESSION CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CAPSAICIN RECEPTOR

Capsaicin is the principle pungent ingredient found in hot chili peppers.  Exposure to capsaicin initially leads to the sensation of pain but upon repeated application, it leads to the desensitization of painful stimuli. This paradoxical effect underlies the use of capsaicin containing compounds as tipical analgesics.  Because capsaicin selectively activates nociceptors, the "capsaicin receptor" has been suggested to play a role in the transduction and maintenance of pain. We have recently characterized a cDNA clone encoding a "capsaicin receptor" (Nature 389: 816-824, 1997). The capsaicin receptor (vaniloid receptor type 1) VR1 recapitulates many of the properties described for capsaicin receptors in pain sensing neurons. In addition, we demonstrated that VR1 can transduce noxious thermal stimuli into an inward current response supporting the hypothesis that it may function as a transducer of painful thermal stimuli in vivo.

Mark A Schumacher Ph.D, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care
University of California, San Francisco

Capsaicin, the active ingredient in red peppers, has been shown to have efficacy in the relief of pain associated with arthritis.  Structurally analogous to prostaglandins, capsaicin could be a lead-compound for drug discovery products with a similar mode of action.  The Mcg human light chain dimer has been shown to have affinity for other anti-inflammatory compounds as well as prostagladin H2. Ongoing research with this well-characterized protein in providing structural information to a number of protein-ligand complexes.

from A Capsaicin-Immune Protein Complex: Structure and Binding Studies.
B.L. Hanson, C. Dewitt, A.B. Edmundson
University of Tennessee - Oak Ridge Graduate School of Bio-Medical Sciences and Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.