Slashdot Mirror
Adding Capsaicin Improves Anesthetic Treatment
eldavojohn writes "It's no secret what capsaicin, the fiery molecule of peppers, does to cell walls. In fact, it's now being used to open cells up to local anesthetics. Combine it with a new drug that works only from the insides of cells and you have a great system for relieving pain. From the article, 'QX-314 is known to reduce the activity of pain-sensing neurons in the nervous system and theoretically heighten pain thresholds. But there's a catch: Researchers found that "it wouldn't work from outside a nerve cell but it would work if you could get it inside," says Bruce Bean, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the new study."
Mammalian cells have no cell walls. Do they mean plasma membrane? This is basic biology, guys, please get your facts straight.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it dissolve.
Well the Write Up didn't make any sense so I read the link. Here is the deal.
1. QX-314 block pain neurons. It doesnt block other neurons for heat, pressure, ect.
2. QX-314 only works if you can get it inside the neuron cell itself.
3. Capsaicin opens a channel on only pain neurons that will let QX-314 through.
So, using Capsaicin and QX-314 together, you can block pain but no other senses.
Not to be a dick or anything, but it IS the active ingredient in peppers. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin, I quote "Capsaicin /kæpse.sn/ (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is the active component of chilli,(sic) peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact"
"Thank you for using Stop-n-Drop, America's favorite suicide booth since 2008"
...such as Zostrix and Dolorac (more info here). It's also an ingredient in Icy Hot and other meds, apparently.
Sensations of affective (dull) pain and heat are transferred along the same nerves, which is part of the reason why this chemical can help modulate signals there.
I produce electronic music and write little games. Have a look.
Could be a difference in common names here...
:-) ) We reserve the word "pepper" exclusively for that stuff made from peppercorns. Chillis are chillis, not chilli peppers.
In Australia, these things are called Capsicums (no, no-one calls them Capsica
Capsicums in the US are called, I believe, bell peppers.
When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
It's a language problem.
Outside the US, capsicums and chillies aren't called "peppers". Interestingly though, the piperine which makes real pepper (the spice) taste hot works on the TRPV ion channel in the same way as capsaicum, so it might have a similar effect.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Bell Peppers are actually the only chilli peppers that do NOT contain capsaicin.
Not a sentence!
"Outside the US, capsicums and chillies aren't called "peppers"."
I have only heard capsicums them called capsicums in English speaking countries in the South Pacific. Capsicums are certainly called green/red/yellow peppers in the UK. Arguably, we (Australia) and NZ are the odd ones out.
Peppers I will agree with though.
It's not taken for the fun. The alcohol acts as a solvent for the nonpolar capsaicin molecule. Water would not have the same effect. Making an alcohol-based tincture allows for concentrations not possible with water, due to the polar nature of water. It's really not a lot of work: Make it; wait for first batch to finish; drink occasionally; have next batch in the garage waiting. Quite useful for those who dislike curry and other spicy foods, such as myself (...and yet I love hot wings).
:)
I'll let the debate about alcohol's potential health benefits slide, as there have been fairly conclusive studies for both sides of the argument. Use only in moderation (Are you ready to Tanqueray?)
khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
Nonsense. Don't confuse Australia with "outside the US". Australia is strange in reserving the word "pepper" for actual Piper nigrum. The UK, for example, is just like the US in that "pepper" is used to refer to the fruit of the Capsicum genus native to Mexico. The hot varieties are called "chillis" or "chilli peppers", and the mild varieties are known as "green peppers", "yellow peppers" or "red peppers" according to their colour; the generic term is "sweet peppers". Piper nigrum is known as "black pepper" or "white pepper" according to its colour.
There is never any ambiguity even when a colour is not mentioned, as the word is used as a mass noun to refer to Piper nigrum and a count noun to refer to Capsicum, i.e. "I like pepper" means one thing and "I like peppers" means another.
The recycling of the word "pepper" is not even peculiar to English: the word for Capsicum is many languages is just a minor variation on the word for Piper nigrum. Here are the respective words for pepper, sweet peppers, and chilli in some languages. French: poivre, poivron, piment/chili. Spanish: pimienta, pimiento, chile/ají. Italian: pepe, peperone, peperoncino.
Strangely, Australians will use the word "peppers" to refer to Capsicum if they are roasted. I believe this is under foreign influence. They do, however, stubbornly make sure that pepper spray (containing capsaicin) is always referred to as "capsicum spray".
Aussies tend to think that their usage is more exact than UK/US usage, in that they do not extend the old-world term "pepper" to cover the new-world fruit, but what they usually don't realise is that to botanists "Capsicum" includes the fiery fruits which Aussies always call "chillis", and never "capsicum".
One final bit of trivia: Australians virtually always mispronounce it "capsicun", although they are rarely aware of it.
— A Brit in Oz
The combination of capsaicin and a mild topical analgesic (menthol) has been on store shelves for decades, for example under the name of IcyHot.
Piper nigrum does come in green and red varieties although this is always called "green peppercorn" and "red peppercorn" in the USA anyway.
unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep