Capsaicin

Category: alkaloid

Aliases: Capsicum, Chili extract

Pharmacological Mechanism

TRPV1 agonist — initial activation produces burning sensation; chronic exposure desensitizes nociceptors → topical analgesia for neuropathic pain (post-herpetic, diabetic neuropathy). Oral capsicum used for thermogenic / metabolic supplementation; modest effect.

Half-Life (t½)

TD: 24h

Dosing Guidelines

• TD: Typical 0.075 mg (Range: 0.025–8 mg)

Target Organ Systems

• nervous

Pathways It Modulates

• Brown adipose thermogenesis (activator) — TRPV1 → cold-mimetic BAT activation
• TRP channel sensory transduction (activator) — TRPV1 (vanilloid receptor)

Chemical Identifiers

• PubChem CID: 1548943
• Formula: C18H27NO3
• Molecular weight: 305.41 g/mol
• InChIKey: YKPUWZUDDOIDPM-SOFGYWHQSA-N
• SMILES: CC(C)/C=C/CCCCC(=O)NCC1=CC(=C(C=C1)O)OC