Red hot hot chili peppers, may protect people against Ebola: The people of Gabon have been found to have a higher level of antibodies for Ebola than other countries yet they rarely have any cases of Ebola (en.ird.fr/the-media-centre/scientific-newssheets/337-possible-natural-immunity-to-ebola) and (plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0009126#pone.0009126-Ksiazek1). The later study concludes “These findings provide significant new insights into ZEBOV circulation and human exposure, and raise important questions as to the human pathogenicity of ZEBOV and the existence of natural protective immunization. “ If you look at the diet of the people of Gabon, it includes a lot of capsaicin (foodspring/content/gabon/) especially in the preparation of wild meats! One of the mechanisms that Ebola uses is the release of cytokines from macrophage cells “as a decoy to absorb neutralizing antibodies” and “studies have implicated a role of sGP in immune system evasion. During viral infection, large amounts of proinflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) are secreted from infected macrophages and cause disruption of the endothelial barrier “ (https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Infection_Mechanism_of_Genus_Ebolavirus) . Macrophage cells “can decrease immune reactions through the release of cytokines” ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrophage). Capsaicin has been found to inhibit the production of cytokines in natural killer cells that work with macrophages. (https://researchgate.net/publication/261757178_Attenuation_of_natural_killer_cell_functions_by_capsaicin_through_a_direct_and_TRPV1-independent_mechanism?ev=pub_cit_inc). I am proposing that capsaicin in the diet of the people of Gabon might be limiting the release of cytokines from macrophage cells which in turn allows leucocytes to come in and do their job, ie: “This suggests an anti-inflammatory role of sGP that helps to explain somewhat mysterious observations during infection. When a patient is suffering from Ebola, tissue destruction can be seen in multiple organs. However, these areas are not infiltrated by leukocytes, which instead appear to congregate within the adjacent vascular system. It appears that the recruitment of neutrophils via an activated endothelium has occurred, but the transmigration process is blocked by the anti-inflammatory effect of sGP [49]. In addition, sGP shares many neutralizing epitopes with GP, suggesting that this secreted protein may serve as a decoy that absorbs antibodies” (https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Infection_Mechanism_of_Genus_Ebolavirus). I have also found another possible pathway that capsaicin could interfere with Ebola. A research team at Harvard has found that Ebola uses a lysosomal protease named cathepsin B as a key to unlock the cells of the host in order to infect them. The authors of the study suggest that if we could interfere with that key, then we could prevent the host cell from being infected. In another study of the effects of capsaicin on cancer cells in the lungs, capsaicin was found to profoundly reduce the concentration of cathepsin B that becomes elevated during initiation of cancerous growth. Capsaicin somehow returns the level of cathepsin B to normal concentrations which significantly reduces the rate of cancerous growth. If capsaicin had the same effects on the cells infected with Ebola, then the cell would be prevented from mass producing the keys for Ebola to use to infect other cells and therefore would significantly slow the progression of the disease. The hope is that maybe through one or both of these mechanisms that capsaicin might interfere with the growth of Ebola in the body long enough for the immune system to recognize Ebola as a threat and successfully defend itself. The scientific research shows that capsaicin works with the same tools that Ebola uses to exploit the host. What will happen on the cellular level when you mix the two is not known but the outcome has already been shown by the Gabonese people to be not only safe but might also give them a better chance at surviving being infected with Ebola.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 09:48:38 +0000