Red peppers help reduce inflammation

Research has found that red peppers, particularly the Capsicum baccatum species, contain bioactive compounds that may be used to fight inflammation and treat inflammatory-related diseases. The study, published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, assessed the anti-inflammatory effects of red pepper extracts using both laboratory testing and clinical trials.

• Researchers at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA) and Catholic University Dom Bosco in Brazil used dichloromethane, butanol, and residual aqueous red pepper extracts for the study.
• In the clinical trial, the researchers found that all red pepper extracts exhibited anti-inflammatory activity.
• The red pepper extracts also effectively inhibited the neutrophil migration and paw edema in mice.
• In addition, the pretreatment with red pepper extracts significantly decreased the levels of myeloperoxidase in the paw tissues of mice.
• Moreover, the red pepper extracts treatments inhibited the nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-alpha production.
• The researchers believe that these anti-inflammatory effects are partly independent of capsaicin.

The researchers concluded that red pepper might be used as an agent to treat inflammatory-related diseases.

To read more studies on natural anti-inflammatory medicines, go to NaturalMedicine.news.

Journal Reference:
Allemand A, Leonardi BF, Zimmer AR, Moreno S, Romão PRT, Gosmann G. RED PEPPER (CAPSICUM BACCATUM) EXTRACTS PRESENT ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS IN VIVO AND INHIBIT THE PRODUCTION OF TNF-? AND NO IN VITRO. Journal of Medicinal Food. 1 August 2016; 19(8): 759-767. DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2015.0101