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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Isolation of Intrapulmonary Artery and Smooth Muscle Cells to Investigate Vascular Responses
Published on: June 8, 2022
Capsaicin from chili ( Capsicum spp.) inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation
Rongxia Liu1, Elke H Heiss2, Dean Guo3
1Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria ; Shanghai Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Engineering Laboratory for TCM Standardization Technology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Accelerated vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation is implied in cardiovascular disease and significantly contributes to vessel lumen reduction following surgical interventions such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or bypass surgery. Therefore, identification and characterization of compounds and mechanisms able to counteract VSMC proliferation is of potential therapeutic relevance. This work reveals the anti-proliferative effect of the natural product capsaicin from Capsicum spp. by quantification of metabolic activity and DNA synthesis in activated VSMC. The observed in vitro activity profile of capsaicin warrants further research on its mechanism of action and potential for therapeutic application.
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