Capsicum annuum extracts found to prevent the development of autoimmune inflammation

Researchers from Odessa National Medical University in Ukraine evaluated the effectiveness of Capsicum annuum (chili pepper) alcohol extract as a natural treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. They reported their findings in an article published in The Journal of Phytopharmacology.

• In southern Ukraine, C. annuum is widely used for the treatment of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
• To determine how effective this traditional medicine is, the researchers used a rat model of rheumatoid arthritis for their in vivo experiment.
• They induced inflammation in the young male rats using Freund’s complete adjuvant.
• The researchers assessed the effectiveness of the C. annuum treatment by measuring changes in morphological parameters of inflammation as well as changes in the differential white blood cell count, serum concentration of alpha-1-acid
  glycoprotein and acetylcholinesterase activity.
• They used ibuprofen as a reference drug for comparison.
• The researchers found that the C. annuum alcohol extract reduced the severity of non-specific inflammation in the rat model.
• It also decreased edema by 50 to 60 percent, along with the number of young, immature white blood cells and the amount of alpha-1-
  acid glycoprotein in the blood of the animals.
• Additionally, the C. annuum alcohol extract prevented the development of autoimmune inflammation.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that C. annuum extract is an effective natural medicine for rheumatoid arthritis.

Journal Reference:

Boiko Yu A, Shandra AA, Boiko IA, Kravchenko IA. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS THE CAPSICUM ANNUUM L. EXTRACTS FOR TREATMENT OF THE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. The Journal of Phytopharmacology. 2019;8(2):46-51