Chimie médicale

The Prospective Antiobesity Effect of Capsaicin Synthetic Analogs: A Matter of Weight

Abstract

Claudia E Morales- Martínez, Ana L Márquez- Aguirre, Emmanuel Díaz- Martínez, Jorge A Rodríguez- González, Juan C Mateos- Díaz, Hugo Esquivel- Solís, Carlos Alvarez- Moya and Alejandro A Canales- Aguirre

Capsaicin, the major component of chili peppers, has shown potential therapeutic effect against metabolic disease inducing weight loss. Its effect is exerted by a particular molecular mechanism and pharmacodynamics, distinct to current obesity treatments. However, its high irritating taste or pungency has limited its use to some clinical trials. Capsaicin-like molecules, known as capsaicin synthetic analogs, contain the majority of capsaicin domains but without those of pungency. Recently, they have received much attention by their potent antiobesity effect. The study of their structure-activity relationship would unravel the mechanisms responsible of this effect. This review summarizes much of the current experimental evidence of the potential effect in metabolism regulation of natural and synthetic capsaicin analogs discovered to date.