Table 1.

An example of co-occurring objects found in MEDLINE with a primary object of interest, capsaicin. A brief summary of what capsaicin is shown at top, with database objects of associated biomedical research interest in bold. Below are the MIM scores for each of these co-occurring objects, along with their relative rank in the list when sorted by score. A total of 2,069 objects co-occurred with capsaicin in the body of literature analyzed. Capsaicin is the active compound in chili peppers that causes their burning sensation. It acts upon a small family of capsaicin receptors, which have been found in sensory and vagal neurons, and allows a calcium influx into these cells causing them to fire and send heat-related signals to the CNS. Capsaicin can cause neurogenic inflammation upon application, and in high enough concentrations it is a neurotoxin.

Primary Object (A)	MIM Score	Secondary Objects (B)	Relative rank	# of records containing B
Capsaicin	0.24	Calcium	1132	303,041
Capsaicin	10.42	Neurotoxin	66	7,612
Capsaicin	35.33	Neurogenic Inflammation	20	2,258
Capsaicin	89.62	Capsaicin Receptor	11	914
Capsaicin	0.96	Neurons	509	589,031