Ventilatory effects of inhaled capsaicin in man

Nebulised capsaicin (10(-7) M) was inhaled by 8 normal subjects to study its effects on the pattern of breathing. When compared to the diluent alone capsaicin increased mean inspiratory flow, a reflection of central inspiratory drive (mean increase: 25 +/- 6%, SEM, p less than 0.01), with a trend to increasing ventilation through more rapid but not more shallow breathing. If capsaicin selectively stimulates non-myelinated fibres in the lung in man as it does in dogs, these results suggest that such stimulation in man can alter the pattern of breathing.