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Lee Swanson Research Update
Capsaicin Appears to Prevent Diabetes-Like Symptoms
October 2009
Dietary intake of capsaicin, the compound that gives red pepper its heat, may prevent the development of diabetes-like symptoms in overweight people, says a new study with mice.
Animals fed a high-fat diet and supplemented with 0.015% capsaicin lowered blood sugar insulin and leptin levels, according to findings published in the journal Obesity.
"Our data suggest that dietary capsaicin may reduce obesity-induced glucose intolerance by not only suppressing inflammatory responses but also enhancing fatty acid oxidation in adipose tissue and/or liver, both of which are important peripheral tissues affecting insulin resistance," wrote the researchers, led by Rina Yu from The University of Ulsan in South Korea.
Over 300 million adults are overweight, according to the latest statistics from the World Health Organization.
Inflammation related to being overweight is known to contribute to the development of a range of disorders, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, insulin resistance and fatty liver disease.
The South Korean researchers fed overweight male mice a high-fat diet for 10 weeks and then separated them into two groups. Both groups continued to eat the high-fat diet for a further 10 weeks, but one group received supplemental capsaicin.
"Dietary capsaicin lowered fasting glucose, insulin and leptin levels and markedly reduced the impairment of glucose tolerance in overweight mice," the researchers reported.
Markers of inflammation, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interleukin (IL)-6, fell significantly following capsaicin supplementation in both fat tissue and the liver.
These decreases occurred with a simultaneous increase in levels of adiponectin, a hormone that regulates a number of metabolic processes. Further, the researchers noted changes in the gene-expression of peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha), which controls enzymes linked to fatty acid oxidation, they said.
Additional studies are needed to examine if such effects could be repeated in humans.
Obesity Published online ahead of print.
