Dietary supplementation of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 channel agonists reduces serum total cholesterol level: a meta-analysis of controlled human trials
What this study found
Capsaicinoid supplementation was associated with lower serum total cholesterol and LDL, but not HDL, triglycerides, fasting glucose, or insulin. Reported effects were significant for total cholesterol in dietary capsaicinoid alone analyses (p = 0.004) and capsaicinoids in mixture analyses (p = 0.001), and for LDL (p = 0.035). The authors concluded that dietary capsaicinoids may improve lipid profiles in humans, but the certainty of evidence was low and the findings need confirmation in more randomized trials.
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 controlled human trials involving 199 participants in active intervention arms.
- Intervention
- Dietary capsaicinoid supplementation, including capsaicin-containing preparations, was tested across 10 controlled trials against placebo or control.
- Key limitation
- The evidence base was small, with only 10 trials and 199 participants across active arms, and treatment formulations, doses, and durations were heterogeneous.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Abstract Abnormal cholesterol level is a major risk factor in the development of atherosclerosis, which is a fundamental derangement in cardiovascular diseases. Any efforts should be undertaken to lower blood cholesterol levels. Among dietary interventions, capsaicinoid supplementation is also considered as a novel cholesterol-lowering approach, but human studies concluded contradictory results about its effectiveness. The present meta-analysis aimed at determining the effects of capsaicinoids on serum lipid profile in humans. We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases from inception to February 2021. We included 10 controlled studies, which involved 398 participants. We found that dietary capsaicinoid supplementation alone or in combination with other substances significantly (p = 0.004 and 0.001, respectively) reduced serum total cholesterol level compared to controls with an overall standardized mean difference of −0.52 (95% confidence interval: −0.83, −0.21). Capsaicinoids also decreased low-density lipoprotein level significantly (p = 0.035), whereas no effect was observed on serum levels of high-density lipoprotein and triglycerides. Our findings provide novel quantitative evidence for the efficacy of dietary capsaicin supplementation in lowering serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels in humans. To validate our conclusion, further randomized controlled trials in a diverse population of adult humans receiving dietary capsaicinoid supplementation are warranted.