Capsaicin, the Spicy Ingredient of Chili Peppers: Effects on Gastrointestinal Tract and Composition of Gut Microbiota at Various Dosages

Abstract

Capsaicin (CAP) is an ingredient of peppers that has biological activities at low doses but causes gastrointestinal (GI) discomfort at high doses. However, the GI effects of high doses of CAP and the evaluation criteria to determine this remain unknown. To elucidate the dose-related effects of CAP on GI health, CAP was administered to mice at 40, 60, and 80 mg/kg doses. The results showed that 40 mg/kg CAP did not negatively affect GI tissues, while 60 and 80 mg/kg CAP damaged GI tissues and caused significant inflammation in the jejunum, ileum, and colon. The levels of serum substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were CAP-dose-dependent, and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) content significantly increased in the 80 mg/kg group. Correlation analysis revealed that the underlying mechanisms might be related to the regulation of gut microbiota, especially Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Faecalibacterium, and Butyricimonas. These results suggest that oral administration of 60 and 80 mg/kg CAP in mice causes intestinal inflammation and high levels of serum neuropeptides and cecal SCFAs, which may be related to alterations in gut microbiota.

Whole‐grain flat rice noodles improve lipid metabolism in high‐fat‐diet‐fed mice in association with gut microbiota

“…WFRN have a higher content of dietary fibre especially insoluble dietary fibre than other groups (Yi et al., 2022b), which could promote the growth of beneficial bacteria Coriobacteriaceae_UCG‐002 . By fermenting in the gut, Coriobacteriaceae_UCG‐002 produced essential amino acids (Xiang et al., 2022) and butyric acid (Chi et al., 2018). It inhibited the growth of Helicobacter (Chen et al., 2018), reduced the risk of Helicobacter infection (Xue et al., 2020), and was beneficial to the host.…”

Spice up the moment: The influence of spicy taste on people's metaphorical perspectives on time

“…As maintained by embodied cognition, bodily experiences scaffold cognitive processes (Barsalou, 2008). Gustatory experience of chili peppers that contain the pungent ingredient called capsaicin (Xiang et al, 2022) can cause tissue irritation, oral burn and pain, an increase in body temperature and reddening in the face (Adetunji et al, 2022; Ji et al, 2013; Zhou et al, 2023). These physiological manifestations are also symptomatically characteristic of being in an angry emotional state (Menete & Jiang, 2021; Wilkowski et al, 2009).…”

“…One is to boost the credibility of the cover story, thereby perishing the thought to second-guess the real objective of the study; the other is to minimize the possibility of confounding the causation. To be more specific, because the stimulus is a particular snack (i.e., potato chips) that tastes spicy, rather than chili peppers or its spicy ingredient capsaicin (Xiang et al, 2022) that define spiciness, any significant effect to emerge might be imputed as much to the spiciness of the snack as to the spicy snack as a whole. Examining the relationship between popularity projection and temporal perspective preferences was necessary to disentangle the effect of spicy taste from the effect of spicy product.…”

Dietary Capsaicin: A Spicy Way to Improve Cardio-Metabolic Health?

“…Capsaicin, however, may reach high concentrations in the stool to correct dysbacteriosis [ 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 , 143 , 144 ], acting as a probiotic nutraceutical. Since dysbacteriosis, and resultant LPS endotoxemia [ 148 ], may help maintain the low-grade chronic inflammation that characterizes metabolic syndrome [ 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 96 ], dietary capsaicin could indirectly exert an anti-inflammatory action by restoring a healthy gut microbiota.…”

“…Diet is the main influencer of gut microbiota. Food additives, such as capsaicin, can promote the growth of “healthy” or, alternatively, pathogenic gut bacteria ( Figure 1 ) [ 132 , 133 , 134 ]. As discussed above, only 25% of the digested capsaicin is absorbed from the intestine [ 105 ]; therefore, capsaicin can reach high concentrations in the feces.…”