Effects of oral caffeine and capsaicin administration on energy expenditure and energy substrates utilization in resting rats

Caffeine and capsaicin increase resting energy metabolism. However, most measurements have been conducted in short-term studies. Therefore, we investigated the effects of caffeine and capsaicin on energy expenditure and energy substrate utilization in resting rats for 6 h. The caffeine (Experiment 1) experiment included four male rats aged 5 weeks and measured the effects of oral administration of caffeine (10 or 50 mg/kg) on respiratory gas, energy expenditure, and energy substrate oxidation for 6 h. Experiment 2 included four male rats aged 6 weeks to measure the effects of capsaicin (10 mg/kg) using the same method as in Experiment 1. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that O₂ uptake and carbohydrate oxidation after caffeine administration for 2 h was higher in the 10 mg trial than that in the 50 mg or placebo trials (P < 0.05). However fat oxidation was not significantly different. In contrast, capsaicin (Experiment 2) observed no differences between the placebo and the capsaicin trials. In conclusion, caffeine initially increased the resting energy consumption for 2 h, and this energy expenditure was due to carbohydrate oxidation. Capsaicin did not change oxygen uptake, respiratory exchange ratio, fat oxidation, or carbohydrate oxidation.