Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Capsaicin, when fed for 7 months to spontaneously hypertensive rats, decreased blood pressure by 8% compared to a blood pressure increase of 2.5% in control group.
The National Institutes of Health classify a healthy blood pressure as 120/80 mm Hg or less, a blood pressure between 120/80 and 140/90 as “prehypertension”, and 140/90 mm Hg or greater as high blood pressure (1). High blood pressure has been deemed to be a worldwide epidemic (2) as it increases the heart’s workload, causing the heart to thicken and increasing risks for stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and congestive heart failure (3). High blood pressure was estimated to cost our healthcare system $73 billion in 2009 (4). Now a new study (5) has found out how capsaicin may be able to elicit its blood pressure health properties.
In a lab study, mice lacking the endothelial receptor, TRPV1 were fed either a standard diet or a diet supplemented in with 0.01% capsaicin for 6 months. Researchers then isolated the arterial endothelial cells from these mice and found that capsaicin was an agonist of the TRPV1 (6). TRPV1 activation by capsaicin caused both a release of calcium, as well as an increase in nitric oxide levels, both of which have been shown to cause a relaxation of blood vessels (7, 8).
To examine whether activation of TRPV1 by capsaicin could modulate vascular function and hence reduce arterial pressure in hypertension in vivo, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were fed a diet of 15 mg/kg of bodyweight of capsaicin for 7 months. Chronic capsaicin treatment resulted in a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure by the fifth month as compared with placebo, with an average drop of 8% in the capsaicin group (195 to 180 mm Hg) versus a 2.5% increase (195 to 200 mm Hg) in the placebo group.
For the researchers, “Our results suggest that endothelial TRPV1 is a potential therapeutic target in the management of hypertension and related vascular diseases.”
Source: Yang, Dachun, et al. “Activation of TRPV1 by dietary capsaicin improves endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation and prevents hypertension.” Cell metabolism 12.2 (2010): 130-141.
© 2010 Elsevier Inc.
Posted September 17, 2010.
References:
- “What Is High Blood Pressure?” posted on The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute website.
- “Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease” posted on The American Heart Association website.
- “Cardiovascular Disease at a Glance” posted on The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
- Casas JP. Homocysteine and stroke: evidence on a causal link from mendelian randomization. Lancet 2005; 365(9455): 224-232.
- Yang D. Activation of TRPV1 by Dietary Capsaicin Improves Endothelium-Dependent Vasorelaxation and Prevents Hypertension. Cell Metabolism 2010; 12(2): 130-141.
- Pederson SF. TRP channels: an overview, Cell Calcium 2005; 38; 233–252
- Van Mierlo LAJ. Blood pressure response to calcium supplementation: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Hum Hypertens 20: 571-580; advance online publication, May 4, 2006.
- Zago AS. Effects of aerobic exercise on the blood pressure, oxidative stress and eNOS gene polymorphism in pre-hypertensive older people. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010 Jul 8. [Epub ahead of print]
