Capsaicin in the study of pain

Neuroscience Perspectives provides multidisciplinary reviews of topics in one of the most diverse and rapidly advancing fields in the life sciences. Whether you are a new recruit to neuroscience or an established expert, look to this series for 'one-stop' sources of the historical, physiological, pharmacological, biochemical, molecular biological and therapeutic aspects of chosen research areas. Capsaicin is the pungent ingredient of red peppers of the capsicum family. It has been found to activate a sub-population of sensory neurones, and to evoke a sensation of burning pain. Capsaicin has attracted much attention as a tool to study the function of sensory neurones. Not only does capsaicin activate subsets of sensory neurones, but high doses of capsaicin also kill them, allowing their functional role to be defined. As well as evoking a sensation of pain, capsaicin can, paradoxically have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. This observation has inspired attempts to develop novel analgesic drugs based on the selective action of capsaicin on neurones that respond to tissue damaging stimuli. This volume provides an overview of recent progress in understanding the mechanism and site of action of capsaicin. A major recent advance has been the identification of an ultrapotent capsaicin analogue, resiniferatoxin, which has provided an invaluable biochemical tool for the characterization of capsaicin receptors. The use of capsaicin to define the efferent function of peptidergic sensory neurones is reviewed, and the significance of capsaicin in the study of pain and the recent development of novel analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs based on the structure of capsaicin is discussed. This book provides a complete introduction to an area of sensory neurobiology of both fundamental and clinical importance written by researchers who have contributed to the recent rapid progress in capsaicin research.