Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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MODULATION OF CAPSAICIN-INDUCED NEUROGENIC VASODILATION BY ACUTE PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS

CRISTIAN SCHEAU 1, MIHAELA ADRIANA ILIE 2,6*, OVIDIU GRIGORE 3, ALEXANDRA IOANA MIHĂILESCU 4, ANA CĂRUNTU 5, LIVIA GRAȚIELA MIHAI 1, IOANA ANCA BĂDĂRĂU 1, DANIEL BODA 6,7, CONSTANTIN CĂRUNTU 1,6,7

1Department of Physiology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474, Bucharest, Romania
2Department of Biochemistry, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474, Bucharest, Romania
3Department of Applied Electronics and Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, 061071, Bucharest, Romania
4Department of Medical Psychology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474, Bucharest, Romania
5“Carol Davila” Central Military Emergency Hospital, 010825, Bucharest, Romania
6Dermatology Research Laboratory, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474, Bucharest, Romania 7Department of Dermatology, “Prof. N.C. Paulescu” National Institute of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, 011233, Bucharest, Romania

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We have investigated the effect of psychological stress on capsaicin-induced cutaneous vasodilation. A total of 40 healthy volunteers were randomly included in two groups, a stress-induced group and a control group. Capsaicin was applied topically in both groups and in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy images of the dermo-epidermal junction were subsequently acquired from the same area at 0, 10, 25 and 40 minutes post-application. The capillary surface area, perimeter, and maximum diameter were evaluated comparatively between the two groups. Statistically significant higher values were obtained in the stress group at 25 and 40 minutes after exposure to capsaicin. These findings demonstrate that psychological stress can amplify the localized skin microvascular response within neurogenic inflammation induced by topical capsaicin.