Chilli and cannabis both produce a substance that reacted with the immune system of mice to reduce inflammation in the gut.

WHAT do chilli spice and cannabis have in common?

On the face of it, very little. But, scientists hope both could help develop new treatments for type 1 diabetes and the gut disease colitis.

When eaten, both interact with the same receptor in our stomachs, new findings suggest.

And the result is they help calm the gut, scientists at the University of Connecticut found.

Mice fed both chilli peppers and the class B drug showed less inflammation in their guts. And, the researchers even found they were able to reverse type 1 diabetes in some mice, by feeding them the fiery pepper.

The chilli was found to bind itself to a receptor called TRPV1, which is found in the gut, oesophagus and pancreas.

When it bound itself to the receptor it created a compound called anandamide, which is chemically similar to cannabinoids found in marijuana.

It was this compound that caused the immune system of the mice to calm down, by reducing inflammation, and the same happened when they were fed anandamide directly.

Reducing inflammation in the pancreas could help in the treatment of diabetes because the pancreas is responsible for maintaining insulin and glucose levels in the body.

A person with diabetes has too much glucose in their system and the pancreas is unable to regulate it.

The brain also creates anandamides when receptors in the brain react to people getting high, but scientists have not known why those receptors exist in the past.

Pramod Srivastava, professor of immunology and medicine at the university, said: “This allows you to imagine ways the immune system and the brain might talk to each other.

“They share a common language.”

Scientists have tested the use of chilli pepper in reducing gut inflammation in mice and even cured one of type one diabetes

He said it opens up new questions about the relationship between the immune system, the gut and the brain.

They are still carrying out experiments in mice to see if anandamide can be used to treat disorders in the bowels, such as colitis.

Prof Srivastava and his team also plan to look at how cannabis affects gut inflammation in people in US states where medicinal forms of the drug is legalised.

He said: “I’m hoping to work with the public health authority in Colorado to see if there has been an effect on the severity of colitis among regular users of edible weed.

“If the epidemiological data shows a significant change, that would make a testable case that anandamide or other cannabinoids could be used as therapeutic drugs to treat certain disorders of the stomach, pancreas, intestines and colon.”