Chili pepper compound, gut inflammation and short stature in children
What it found
Children with idiopathic short stature had higher levels of a tiny RNA piece called miR-17-3p in their blood exosomes and stool, and a capsaicin-rich diet caused mild gut inflammation and raised the same marker in rats, which grew shorter.
The work links a spicy diet to a possible pathway affecting growth, though the human data are observational.
What they found
Studies in people
Higher miR-17-3p in children
Blood exosomes from children with idiopathic short stature had higher levels of miR-17-3p than those from healthy children. The authors report this marker distinguished the two groups with high sensitivity and specificity.
Stool inflammation markers
Stool samples from children with idiopathic short stature had more miR-17-3p and more of the inflammatory marker TNF-alpha than samples from healthy children.
Animal and lab studies
Capsaicin diet in rats
Rats fed a capsaicin-rich diet for 28 days grew shorter and lighter than rats on a capsaicin-free diet, even though they ate similar amounts after the first few days. Their growth plates showed less cartilage cell growth and bone formation.
Gut inflammation in rats
The capsaicin-fed rats had mild inflammation in their small intestine and colon, with damage to the villi and higher levels of inflammatory cytokines. The authors call this microinflammation.
miR-17-3p pathway
In lab tests, capsaicin activated the NF-kB signaling pathway in intestinal cells, which raised miR-17-3p. This miR-17-3p then suppressed the ZNF148/SOS1 axis, reducing RAS/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling needed for cartilage cell growth.
Engineered exosome treatment
In rats, exosomes engineered to target growth plate cartilage and carry a miR-17-3p blocker plus growth hormone restored growth plate function and improved height. The authors say this approach needs more safety testing.
What the authors conclude
“These findings uncover a diet-driven exosome axis underlying ISS and suggest new therapeutic strategies for children in high-capsaicin regions.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say a capsaicin-rich diet can cause mild gut inflammation that activates NF-kB and raises plasma exosomal miR-17-3p, which inhibits bone growth and contributes to growth hormone insensitivity in children with idiopathic short stature.
- They call for more attention to the impact of capsaicin-rich diets on children's growth, especially in high-risk groups and those receiving growth hormone therapy.
- They suggest that engineered exosomes delivering miR-17-3p siRNA and growth hormone to the growth plate could be a promising treatment strategy.
How it was done
The authors wanted to understand what causes idiopathic short stature, since most cases have no known reason and many children respond poorly to growth hormone treatment. They noticed that regions of China with high chili pepper consumption also report more cases of idiopathic short stature.
They compared blood exosomes from 106 children with idiopathic short stature and 106 matched healthy children, and looked at stool samples from both groups. They also fed immature rats a diet with 0.01% capsaicin for 28 days and studied their growth plates, intestines and blood exosomes.
What it can’t tell you
- The human part of this study compared children at one point in time, so it can show a link between diet, gut inflammation and short stature but cannot prove that chili pepper causes it.
- The rat experiments used a specific capsaicin dose and cannot show what happens in children eating spicy food over many years.
- The authors note that the engineered exosome treatment needs more study before its full safety profile is known.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by National Science Foundation of China | NSAF Joint Fund; Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology (Department of Science and Technology, Jiangxi Province); Government of Jiangxi Province (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
- Authors work at
- Nanchang University, China; Institute of Orthopaedics of Jiangxi Province, China; Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Disease, China
The paper
- Title
- Capsaicin diet drives gut inflammation and exosomal miR-17-3p elevation in idiopathic short stature
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Wang Y, Wu Z, Yuan J, et al (2025). Capsaicin diet drives gut inflammation and exosomal miR-17-3p elevation in idiopathic short stature. Nature communications. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-67883-2Free full textPubMed 41469526DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error