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JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2002 94(17):1263-1265; doi:10.1093/jnci/94.17.1263
© 2002 by Oxford University Press
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Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 94, No. 17, 1263-1265, September 4, 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press

EDITORIAL

More Than Spice: Capsaicin in Hot Chili Peppers Makes Tumor Cells Commit Suicide

Young-Joon Surh

Correspondence to: Young-Joon Surh, Ph.D., College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Shinlim-dong, Kwanak-ku, Seoul 151–742, South Korea (e-mail: surh@plaza.snu.ac.kr).

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Hot red chili peppers, which belong to the plant genus Capsicum, are among the most heavily and frequently consumed spices throughout the world. Their principal pungent ingredient is the phenolic substance capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide). Although capsaicin can cause neurogenic inflammation per se under certain physiologic conditions, it also has analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities and is used currently in topical creams and gels (e.g., Axsain and Zostrix) to mitigate neurogenic pain. A receptor for capsaicin and other structurally related substances was identified and cloned (1–3). This receptor, vanilloid receptor subtype 1 (VR1), forms a nonselective cation channel in the plasma membrane that mediates some of the pleiotropic effects exerted by capsaicin and its analogues, which are collectively named vanilloids.

The role of capsaicin in carcinogenic processes is quite controversial. Although some investigators suspect that capsaicin is a carcinogen, co-carcinogen, or tumor promoter, others have reported . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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