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Capsaicin and Its Analogues Impede Nocifensive Response of Caenorhabditis elegans to Noxious Heat

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Abstract

Capsaicin is the most abundant pungent molecule identified in red chili peppers, and it is widely used for food flavoring, in pepper spray for self-defense devices and recently in ointments for the relief of neuropathic pain. Capsaicin and several other related vanilloid compounds are secondary plant metabolites. Capsaicin is a selective agonist of the transient receptor potential channel, vanilloid subfamily member 1 (TRPV1). After exposition to vanilloid solution, Caenorhabditis elegans wild type (N2) and mutants were placed on petri dishes divided in quadrants for heat stimulation. Thermal avoidance index was used to phenotype each tested C. elegans experimental groups. The data revealed for the first-time that capsaicin can impede nocifensive response of C. elegans to noxious heat (32–35 °C) following a sustained exposition. The effect was reversed 6 h post capsaicin exposition. Additionally, we identified the capsaicin target, the C. elegans transient receptor potential channel OCR-2 and not OSM-9. Further experiments also undoubtedly revealed anti-nociceptive effect for capsaicin analogues, including olvanil, gingerol, shogaol and curcumin.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (F. Beaudry discovery Grant No. RGPIN-2015-05071). Laboratory equipment was funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec (FRQ), the Government of Quebec (F.Beaudry CFI John R. Evans Leaders Grant No. 36706). A PhD scholarship was awarded to J. Ben Salem with a Grant obtained from Fondation de France.

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  1. Groupe de Recherche en Pharmacologie Animal du Québec (GREPAQ), Département de Biomédecine Vétérinaire, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, 3200 Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, J2S 2M2, Canada

    Bruno Nkambeu, Jennifer Ben Salem & Francis Beaudry

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  1. Bruno Nkambeu
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  2. Jennifer Ben Salem
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Correspondence to Francis Beaudry.

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Nkambeu, B., Salem, J.B. & Beaudry, F. Capsaicin and Its Analogues Impede Nocifensive Response of Caenorhabditis elegans to Noxious Heat. Neurochem Res 45, 1851–1859 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-020-03049-4

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