IH, cayenne peber and hair?

IH, you mentioned something regarding Cayenne peber and hair, did you have a study on that? I'd like to see it. (Cayenne peber orally not topical)

cpio - Late last year, there was a study showing that endocannabinoids prevent hair growth. During stressful events, the Cannabinoid pathway (CB1 receptor) kills hair faster than anything. The only natural CB1 blocker it seems is Cayenne. I thought I had found with a certain type of Echinacea, but turned out it was specific to CB2. Up until now (October 2008) it was believed that only the CB1 receptor was involved, yet now it turns out that the CB2 receptor is involved. I'll post that study last.

Cayenne is very interesting for a lot of reasons. An injection of it in the pancreas was shown to reverse type I diabetes in rats. It's also a bonafide cancer cure. Hair loss and cancer behave in similar ways. Virtually anything that helps fight hair loss, seems to also fight cancer. The reason is that there are several factors in common. I should also mention that heart disease and hair loss also have a great deal in common. Cayenne pepper is also amazing for heart disease.

Let's first look at this study on how the CB1 affects hair growth:

FASEB J. 2007 Nov;21(13):3534-41. Epub 2007 Jun 12.
Inhibition of human hair follicle growth by endo- and exocannabinoids.
Telek A, Bíró T, Bodó E, Tóth BI, Borbíró I, Kunos G, Paus R.

Department of Physiology, University of Debrecen, Medical and Health Science Center, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.

Recent studies strongly suggest that the cannabinoid system is a key player in cell growth control. Since the organ-culture of human hair follicles (HF) offers an excellent, clinically relevant model for complex tissue interaction systems, we have asked whether the cannabinoid system plays a role in hair growth control. Here, we show that human scalp HF, intriguingly, are both targets and sources of endocannabinoids. Namely, the endocannabinoid N-arachidonoylethanolamide (anandamide, AEA) as well as the exocannabinnoid delta (9) -tetrahydrocannabinol dose-dependently inhibited hair shaft elongation and the proliferation of hair matrix keratinocytes, and induced intraepithelial apoptosis and premature HF regression (catagen). These effects were inhibited by a selective antagonist of cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB1). In contrast to CB2, CB1 was expressed in a hair cycle-dependent manner in the human HF epithelium. Since we successfully identified the presence of endocannabinoids in human HF, our data strongly suggest that human HF exploit a CB1-mediated endocannabinoid signaling system for negatively regulating their own growth. Clinically, CB1 agonists may therefore help to manage unwanted hair growth, while CB1 antagonists might counteract hair loss. Finally, human HF organ culture offers an instructive, physiologically relevant new research tool for dissecting "nonclassical" effects of endocannabinoids and their receptor-mediated signaling in general.

This study just came out last month (September) and it's been the missing piece of a puzzle. There was a study on Capsicum (Cayenne) showing negative effects on hair growth. However, that was in situ with the dermal papilla literally being soaked with Cayenne directly. That would likely be over kill. Turn out, that's exactly what it was. As of last month, shows that Cayenne inhibits lipids that liberate arachadonic acid that are involved with hair loss.

J Invest Dermatol. 2008 Sep 4.
Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid-1 Signaling as a Regulator of Human Sebocyte Biology.
Tóth BI, Géczy T, Griger Z, Dózsa A, Seltmann H, Kovács L, Nagy L, Zouboulis CC, Paus R, Bíró T.

[1] 1Department of Physiology, Medical and Health Science Center, Research Center for Molecular Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary [2] 2Cell Physiology Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Medical and Health Science Center, Research Center for Molecular Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.

Transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1), originally described as a central integrator of nociception, is expressed on human epidermal and hair follicle keratinocytes and is involved in regulation of cell growth and death. In human pilosebaceous units, we had shown that TRPV1 stimulation inhibits hair shaft elongation and matrix keratinocyte proliferation, and induces premature hair follicle regression and keratinocyte apoptosis. In the current study, we have explored the role of TRPV1-mediated signaling in sebaceous gland (SG) biology, using a human sebocyte cell culture model (SZ95 sebocytes). Demonstrating that human skin SG in situ and SZ95 sebocytes in vitro express TRPV1, we show that the prototypic TRPV1 agonist, capsaicin, selectively inhibits basal and arachidonic acid-induced lipid synthesis in a dose-, time-, and extracellular calcium-dependent and a TRPV1-specific manner. Low-dose capsaicin stimulates cellular proliferation via TRPV1, whereas higher concentrations inhibit sebocyte growth and induce cell death independent of TRPV1. Moreover, capsaicin suppresses the expression of genes involved in lipid homeostasis and of selected proinflammatory cytokines. Collectively, these findings support the concept that TRPV1 signaling is a significant, previously unreported player in human sebocyte biology and identify TRPV1 as a promising target in the clinical management of inflammatory SG disorders (for example, acne vulgaris).Journal of Investigative Dermatology advance online publication, 4 September 2008; doi:10.1038/jid.2008.258.

Here is a brand new study (this month, October) this time on CB2. It's quite a surprise:

FASEB J. 2008 Oct;22(10):3685-95. Epub 2008 Jul 2.
Endocannabinoids enhance lipid synthesis and apoptosis of human sebocytes via cannabinoid receptor-2-mediated signaling.
Dobrosi N, Tóth BI, Nagy G, Dózsa A, Géczy T, Nagy L, Zouboulis CC, Paus R, Kovács L, Bíró T.

Department of Physiology, University of Debrecen, Medical and Health Science Center, 4032 Debrecen, Nagyerdei krt. 98. PO Box 22, Hungary.

We had previously shown that both locally produced endocannabinoids and exocannabinoids, via cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB1), are powerful inhibitors of human hair growth. To further investigate the role of the cannabinoid system in pilosebaceous unit biology, we have explored in the current study whether and how endocannabinoids have an impact on human sebaceous gland biology, using human SZ95 sebocytes as cell culture model. Here, we provide the first evidence that SZ95 sebocytes express CB2 but not CB1. Also, prototypic endocannabinoids (arachidonoyl ethanolamide/anandamide, 2-arachidonoyl glycerol) are present in SZ95 sebocytes and dose-dependently induce lipid production and (chiefly apoptosis-driven) cell death. Endocannabinoids also up-regulate the expression of key genes involved in lipid synthesis (e.g., PPAR transcription factors and some of their target genes). These actions are selectively mediated by CB2-coupled signaling involving the MAPK pathway, as revealed by specific agonists/antagonists and by RNA interference. Because cells with "silenced" CB2 exhibited significantly suppressed basal lipid production, our results collectively suggest that human sebocytes utilize a paracrine-autocrine, endogenously active, CB2-mediated endocannabinoid signaling system for positively regulating lipid production and cell death. CB2 antagonists or agonists therefore deserve to be explored in the management of skin disorders characterized by sebaceous gland dysfunctions (e.g., acne vulgaris, seborrhea, dry skin).

Perhaps Echinacea might be of interested after all, but need to continue looking at this.

For now, Cayenne seems like a wise idea under stressful conditions, b/c during these conditions, the endocannabinoid pathway release several neuropeptides which start the apopotic processes.

IH, thanks for this info, and please keep us posted on future developments ..

Hey IH,

Any recommendations for good sources of Cayenne Pepper? Not sure if it's something we should supplement on or eat naturally to get the full spectrum of benefits, if eating it naturally is even an option without scalding your throat!

nidhogge - The idea of these very hot peppers is only during very high stress. I've tried mega high doses of the capsules over the years. When I used several of the 100,000 STU capsules per meal I would eventually feel a burning heat when going to the bathroom. That was an interesting experience, LOL.

If you're inclined to eat peppers instead of taking Cayenne capsules, if you were to eat habeneros peppers that would do the trick. Only thing is, when someone is suffering from extreme stress they are usually in a mood of not caring about themselves during the moment. So I think having some 40,000 STU cayenne capsules on hand in case something happens is a good idea.

Just a side note: I know that some people throw in some cayenne pepper into apple cider vinegar shots for an extra "cleansing" effect. I really never knew how the pepper was "cleansing" exactly. Now that I think about it I don't even know what "cleansing" is supposed to mean exactly. I know that ACV returns your stomach PH to it's healthy level, but I'm not sure if that is what is meant by "cleansing". Usually I associate cleansing with like liver detoxification, as in green food drinks. IH maybe you can explain to me what is meant exactly by "cleansing"?

JHarsh80 - Cleansing means detoxification. I would not consider cayenne to be a cleansing herb, it is a circulatory spice, but it has an effect on substance P, and mediates sensory nerves. It can block pain signals that even the most powerful drugs cannot touch and it can counteract certain neuropeptides that have negative impact on hair growth.

LOL CS, I can only imagine what it'd do to your bowel movements...thanks for the information though!