Orally Administered Capsaicin Effects on Rat Taste System Across Development (Behavioral Time Course)

This research sought to discover whether exposing rats to increasing concentrations of capsaicin, the compound which is found in chili peppers and makes them spicy, would result in increased tolerance over time. To this end, 40 day old, female Sprague-Dawley rats were placed in one of two treatment conditions; receiving either capsaicin (starting at 2 ppm) in 30% sucrose in distilled water solution, or a control solution of 30% sucrose only. Since earlier studies observed an avoidance of capsaicin concentrations of 5 ppm and over, this study aimed to surpass that threshold by slowly increasing the concentration by 1.5 ppm every five days in hopes of slowly building up a tolerance. Three behaviors of interest were recorded: latency to approach, consumption rate, and total amount of solution consumed, with the aim of quantifying capsaicin tolerance as compared to control solution consumption. This study sought to create an animal model of capsaicin exposure, to further reveal the behavioral nuances of tolerance creation in rats. Analysis is ongoing, but the significance of this project lies in the possibility of eliciting a more robust understanding of the connection between behavior and tolerance creation. Significant differences in the behaviors of interest between capsaicin and control animals would suggest possible changes to the trigeminal system as it relates to the tolerance phenomenon in the context of an animal model