Abstract:

Objective To evaluate the effect of spicy foods on allergic contact dermatitis caused by cinnamic aldehyde. Methods Sixty mice were equally divided into 3 groups, i.e., blank control group, cinnamic aldehyde group and spicy food+cinnamic aldehyde group. Spicy foods （including alcohol and bush redpepper fruit） were intragastrically given for 7 days to induce irritation in the mice of spicy food+cinnamic aldehyde group. Then, the mice of innamic aldehyde group and spicy food+cinnamic aldehyde group were challenged by cinnamic aldehyde on the skin. The difference in allergic reaction intensity was compared between the cinnamic aldehyde group and spicy food+cinnamic aldehyde group. Results After 7-day intragastric administration of spicy foods, increased scores of symptom and sign were observed in the spicy food+cinnamic aldehyde group compared with the blank control group receiving intragastric sodium chloride physiological solution（P ＜ 0.01）. Intense allergic reactions were induced by cinnamic aldehyde, and the reaction intensity score was significantly higher in mice irritated with spicy foods than in those with sodium chloride physiological solution at 24 and 48 hours after the challenge, but was similar at 72 hours between the two groups regardless of a significant difference in pathological score （P ＜ 0.05）. Conclusions The mixture of alcohol and bush redpepper fruit at the concentration used in this experiment could induce irritation in mice, and increase the intensity of allergic reaction caused by cinnamic aldehyde.

Key words: Allergic reaction