ReviewPharmacology & therapeutics2021
Fight fire with fire: Neurobiology of capsaicin-induced analgesia for chronic pain.
Review in Pharmacology & therapeutics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05523934 (Capsaïcin patch8% in Adult Complex Regional Pain Syndromes), which is not on this map. Cited by 91 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Capsaïcin patch8% in Adult Complex Regional Pain Syndromes: a Retrospective Analysis
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 181 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and risk factors for painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect ofNutrients · 2026Trial
- Effect of Capsaicin (8%) Topical System on Sensory Function in Patients With Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: Analysis of the PACE Study.Muscle & nerve · 2026Trial
- Effects of different phenylcapsaicin doses on resistance training performance, muscle damage, protein breakdown, metabolic response, ratings of perceived exertion, and recovery: a randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover trial.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2023Trial
- Long-term efficacy of high-frequency (10 kHz) spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy: 24-Month results of a randomized controlled trial.Diabetes research and clinical practice · 2023Trial
- Microtubule Cytoskeleton Dysfunction in Chronic Pain: Mechanisms of Transport Failure and Emerging Therapeutic Targets.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Functional and molecular diversity of human C-fibers in pain modulation.Current opinion in supportive and palliative care · 2026Review
- Topical Pain Management: An Updated Review of Current Evidence and Emerging Strategies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Design, synthesis and structural mechanism of action of TRPV1 agonist MSP20 with long-lasting analgesic effect.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Cutaneous TRPV4 Potentiates the Afferent Transmission of Electroacupuncture Stimulation.ACS omega · 2026Article
- Phytochemical-Based Therapeutic Strategies for Sarcopenia: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Translation.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Article
- Review
- Evolving Paradigms in Cancer Pain Management: From Opioid-Centric Care to Multimodal and Personalized Strategies.Cancers · 2026Review
- Article
- Repeated photobiological regulation therapy alleviates inflammation in mice with experimental acute pancreatitis through ROS/NF-κB pathway.Lasers in medical science · 2026Article
- Article
- Osteoarthritis: molecular pathogenesis and potential therapeutic options.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Role of transient receptor potential channels on pathogenesis and treatment of psoriasis.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- Spicy Personality: On the Relationship Between Personality Traits and the Preference for Spicy Foods.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Capsaicin, the pungent ingredient in chili peppers, produces intense burning pain in humans. Capsaicin selectively activates the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), which is enriched in nociceptive primary afferents, and underpins the mechanism for capsaicin-induced burning pain. Paradoxically, capsaicin has long been used as an analgesic. The development of topical patches and injectable formulations containing capsaicin has led to application in clinical settings to treat chronic pain conditions, such as neuropathic pain and the potential to treat osteoarthritis. More detailed determination of the neurobiological mechanisms of capsaicin-induced analgesia should provide the logical rationale for capsaicin therapy and help to overcome the treatment's limitations, which include individual differences in treatment outcome and procedural discomfort. Low concentrations of capsaicin induce short-term defunctionalization of nociceptor terminals. This phenomenon is reversible within hours and, hence, likely does not account for the clinical benefit. By contrast, high concentrations of capsaicin lead to long-term defunctionalization mediated by the ablation of TRPV1-expressing afferent terminals, resulting in long-lasting analgesia persisting for several months. Recent studies have shown that capsaicin-induced Ca
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.