# Cayenne pepper paste



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Cayenne pepper paste is sometimes recommended for pain relief on this board. I never looked into it at all until today, and I still haven't looked into it very much. But having looked into it just a little bit, I'm not sure that it's a good idea for birds.

As far as I can tell, the pain-causing effects of capsaicin (the active ingredient in hot peppers) is a result of its stimulating effect on the TRPV1 pain receptor in humans and other mammals. Apparently its pain-relieving effects in humans are also a result of its interaction with this receptor, basically overwhelming the nerves to the point that they stop transmitting pain messages.

Birds have the TRPV1 pain receptor but genetically it's somewhat different than the mammalian version. Capsaicin doesn't stimulate the receptor in birds, and when they eat hot chilies they don't feel the burn. When it comes to putting capsaicin on the skin, humans can feel the burn badly enough to need medical treatment, and when it's applied correctly they can get pain relief. 

I'm guessing that neither one of these outcomes would apply to putting capsaicin on the skin of birds - they don't respond to capsaicin the way mammals do, and probably it would neither harm them nor help them. But the toxicity issues for mammals sound scary enough that I don't think I'd want to take the chance. Here are some links that may be helpful, and it would be very helpful if anyone has links showing that capsaicin treatment is safe and effective for birds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3169333/
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0031448 (says that "TRPV1 sequences in birds retains a single point mutation at the capsaicin binding site that results in total capsaicin insensitivity of TRPV1". Total capsaicin insensitivity probably means that it has no effect whatsoever on birds).


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