Table 3.

Summary of the pharmacological benefits and its mechanism of action.

Health beneficial	Mechanism of action	Reference
Analgesic effect	vlPAG leads to TRPV1 activation which helps to release glutamate into RVM and induce the activation of OFF-cells and reduced the pain pathway	[213]
Antioxidant activity	Phytochemical components - phenolics and flavonoids inhibits radiation-induced biochemical alterations including protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation	[214]
Antimicrobial activity	Disrupt the peptidoglycan structure due to lipid-lipid interactions providing liquidity in the cell wall and also induced the osmotic stress, responsible for gene expression inhibition	[215]
Gastro protective effects	Due to activation of TRPV1 at gastric sensory neurons – stimulates the release of CGRP and NO	[216]
Cancer prevention	ROS generation, increased in intracellular Ca2+, activation of transcription factors (NF-κB and STATs), disruption of mitochondrial membrane transition potential, and AMP-dependent kinase pathway	[217]
Cardiovascular benefits	Due to presence of TRPV1 in platelets provoked Ca2+ release from intracellular platelet contributing to ADP and thrombin induced platelet activation	[218]
Anti-obesity effect	Lowered fasting glucose, insulin, leptin level and also lower the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1 MCP-1), interleukin (IL)-6 mRNAs in adipose tissue and liver.	[219]
Inflammation curing	Inhibits the NF-κB phosphorylation which then reduces downstream IL-6 and TNFα target.	[220]

vlPAG: ventrolateral periaqueductal gray; TRPV1: transient receptor potential vanilloid 1; RVM: rostroventral medulla; CGRP: calcitonin gene-related peptides; NO: nitric oxide; ROS: reactive oxygen species; NF-κB: nuclear factor κ; STATs: signal transducers and activators of transcription; AMP: Adenosine monophosphate; TNFα: tumor necrosis factor-alpha; MCP-1: monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1; IL-6: interleukin-6.