Vanilloid receptors--do they have a role in whole body metabolism? Evidence from TRPV1.

With increasing lifespan, therapeutic interventions for the treatment of disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus are in great demand. Despite billions of dollars invested to reduce the symptoms and complications due to diabetes mellitus, current treatments (e.g., insulin replacements, sensitization) remain inadequate, justifying the search for novel therapeutic approaches or alternative solutions, including dietary supplementation, for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in every age group. The involvement of the vanilloid system in the regulation of metabolism has been identified, and the emerging role of its receptors, the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1), in diabetes was recently demonstrated. Indeed, beneficial effects of dietary capsaicin, an agonist of TRPV1 receptors, were identified for improving glucose, insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 levels. Recent findings regarding TRPV1 receptors in association with whole body metabolism including glucose homeostasis will be reviewed in this article.