Abstract

Background: Stress is considered as a risk factor for many diseases. It is mainly because stress can suppress the immune system in our body by different mechanisms and also progress the inflammatory reactions. Aim and Objectives: In this study, we compared the immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effect of two commonly used spices: Curcumin and capsaicin.
Materials and Methods: Forty-two male albino rats were examined in this study. Rats were divided into seven groups as control, acute stress, chronic stress, acute stress, and chronic stress with curcumin and acute and chronic stress with capsaicin. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for the inflammatory and immunity markers.
Results: Results showed that exposure of chronic stress shows a significant change in CD4 and CD8 percentages and the selected inflammatory markers. Myeloperoxidase and C-reactive protein level increased significantly in the same group. Treatment with curcumin and capsaicin reverts the markers toward control group, but the change was not significant. Conclusion: The results also show that there is no significant difference between the activity of curcumin and capsaicin. Acute stress showed immunomodulatory effects.