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This study was performed to examine the metabolism and absorption of intragastrically administered capsaicinoids in the anaesthetized rat. [3H]-dihydrocapsaicin ([3H]-DHC) and unlabelled capsaicin were readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract but were almost completely metabolized before reaching the general circulation. A certain degree of biotransformation already took place in the intestinal lumen. Unchanged compounds (identified by chromatography) were present in portal vein blood. There seems to be a saturable absorption and degradation process in the gastrointestinal tract and a very effective metabolism in the liver. Less than 5% of the total amount of extracted radio-activity consisted of unchanged [3H]-DHC in trunk blood and brain 15 min after gastrointestinal application. On the other hand, approximately 50% unchanged [3H]-DHC was detected in these tissues 3 min after i.v. or 90 min after s.c. application of the capsaicinoids. Dihydrocapsaicin (DHC) or [3H]-DHC were metabolized when incubated in vitro with liver tissue but not with brain tissue. The metabolic product(s) did not show capsaicin-like biological activity. It can be concluded that rapid hepatic metabolization limits systemic pharmacological effects of enterally absorbed capsaicin.

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1 Release of the tachykinin, substance P, from the peripheral terminals of polymodal afferent C-fibres is thought to be largely responsible for the vasodilatation and plasma protein extravasation described as neurogenic inflammation. The effects of CP-96,345, a non-peptide antagonist at the substance P (NK1) receptor, on these vascular reactions were investigated in the rat. 2 Intravenously (i.v.) injected CP-96,345 (0.4-3.Opmolkg-') prevented the drop in blood pressure, a measure of the peripheral vasodilatation, evoked by substance P and neurokinin A in a dose-and timedependent manner, but did not affect that elicited by the non-tachykinin peptides calcitonin gene-related peptide and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. 3 Plasma protein extravasation evoked by i.a. infusion of substance P. antidromic stimulation of the saphenous or the vagus nerve, and stimulation of cutaneous afferent nerves with mustard oil, were each significantly inhibited by CP-96,345 (3.0-9.Opmol kg-i.v.). Furthermore, CP-96,345 was orally active in blocking mustard oil-induced plasma extravasation with an ED50 of 10,umol kg-'. 4 The inhibition of substance P-induced vasodilatation and of neurogenic plasma extravasation by CP-96,345 was stereospecific as the inactive isomer CP-96,344 (2R, 3R enantiomer of CP-96,345) had no effect. 5 Thus CP-96,345 is a specific, highly potent, long-acting and orally active inhibitor of tachykininmediated neurogenic inflammation.

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1. I.v. injection of 1 or 3 micrograms capsaicin led to a triphasic blood pressure response in Sprague-Dawley rats but, in contrast to Wistar rats, did not affect heart rate and respiration. The blood pressure response was a sequence of fall (A), return to normal levels or slight rise (B), and fall (C) in blood pressure. The blood pressure response to capsaicin remained unchanged after treatment with adrenoceptor or cholinoceptor antagonists. 2. The initial fall in blood pressure (A) was absent after bilateral vagotomy and in the pithed rat. The delayed fall in blood pressure (C) remained unchanged after vagotomy, but was absent after neonatal capsaicin pretreatment and in the pithed rat. Effect B was not diminished after vagotomy or despinalization: it was augmented in rats treated neonatally with capsaicin. 3. I.a. injection of capsaicin into the hind leg caused a reflex fall in blood pressure which was changed to a reflex rise in rats treated with capsaicin as neonates. 4. The initial and the delayed fall in blood pressure after i.v. injection of capsaicin seems to be reflex responses to stimulation of capsaicin-sensitive small diameter afferent fibres. The intermediate rise in blood pressure appears to result mainly from a direct short vasoconstriction by capsaicin.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is known to produce hyperalgesia as well as to stimulate synthesis of neuropeptides in dorsal root ganglia (DRG). In the present study, we wanted to determine the effects of local NGF administration and assess to which extent mast cell-dependent factors are mediating NGF responses. Rats received 1 daily unilateral intraplantar injection for 3 days. Local edema (days 1-3), changes in thermal nociceptive threshold (days 1-4), and the content of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and substance P (SP) in the sciatic nerve (day 4), were determined. NGF injection caused edema which was absent in rats pretreated with compound 48/80 as well as in rats treated neonatally with capsaicin ('capsaicin denervation'). NGF-induced edema was not reduced by the neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist SR140333, but attenuated by the CGRP receptor antagonist CGRP[8-37]. On each day, NGF injection caused a decrease in thermal nociceptive threshold which lasted for less than 3 h. Capsaicin denervation, but not treatment with indomethacin, abolished NGF-induced thermal hyperalgesia. Treatment with compound 48/80 attenuated hyperalgesia produced by the first, but not by subsequent, NGF injections. On day 4, 24 h after the last of 3 NGF injections, thermal nociceptive threshold was not different from control values, but at that time, CGRP and SP were elevated in the sciatic nerve. We suggest therefore that NGF-induced local edema was caused by mast cell-derived vasoactive compounds which act together with afferent neuron-derived CGRP to increase vascular permeability. NGF-induced thermal hyperalgesia most likely was caused by an increased sensitivity of peripheral endings of capsaicin sensitive afferents. This effect of NGF was not mediated by products of the cyclooxygenase pathway, and was also observed in mast cell-depleted rats.