The effect of capsaicin on afferent nerves and temperature regulation of mammals and birds

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Abstract

  • 1.

    1.|The impairment of nociception, warm reception and temperature regulation by capsaicin relates to the particular effect of the drug upon unmyelinated sensory nerve fibres which contain substance P and/or somatostatin.

  • 2.

    2.|Capsaicin also activates and subsequently desensitizes warm sensitive neurones in the hypothalamus, which contributes to impaired temperature regulation at high ambient temperatures.

  • 3.

    3.|Birds are highly insensitive to capsaicin. The threshold concentration for nociceptive reactions is about 1000–10,000 times that of mammals; temperature regulation was not impaired by doses up to 1 g/kg body weight.

  • 4.

    4.|The resistance of birds to capsaicin might be due to functional differences between mammals and birds in neuropeptide-containing neurones.

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