Cinnamon effects the Cytochrome P450 group of enzymes in the liver. These are the CYP enzymes mentioned above. They are responsible for detoxing the body. They are what creates the half life of medications that is then used to determine the frequency of dosage.
The other effect of cinnamon is on allosteric enzymes that can act as switches, either turning enzymes, and thus the corresponding biochemical reaction in the body, either on or off.
A close friend of mine spent his entire career at the medical school researching allosteric enzymes in the liver. It’s the topic of study for his PhD and he stayed with it for 40 years. He authored the textbook on liver enzymes used by universities teaching this topic.
My interest in these enzymes is that it appears these allosteric enzymes are the root cause of auto immune disorders such as MS. By reversing, they can turn the body against itself.
“Beneficial effects of cinnamon and its extracts in the management of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes”
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2021/fo/d1fo01935j
Numerous lines of findings have elucidated that cinnamon has beneficial effects against CVDs in various ways, including endothelium protection, regulation of immune response, lowering blood lipids, antioxidative properties, anti-inflammatory properties, suppression of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth and mobilization, repression of platelet activity and thrombosis and inhibition of angiogenesis. Furthermore, emerging evidence has established that cinnamon improves diabetes, a crucial risk factor for CVDs, by enhancing insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion; regulating the enzyme activity involved in glucose; regulating glucose metabolism in the liver, adipose tissue and muscle; ameliorating oxidative stress and inflammation to protect islet cells; and improving diabetes complications. In this review, we summarized the mechanisms by which cinnamon regulates CVDs and diabetes in order to provide a theoretical basis for the further clinical application of cinnamon.
Cinnamon, a common spice, is an herbal medicine and an anti-inflammatory dietary supplement recommended for the primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease.8 Furthermore, cinnamon has been found to decrease fasting blood glucose (FBG) and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) level, thus bringing benefits to diabetic patients.
More than 80 compounds were separated and characterized from different parts of cinnamon. The major compounds of cinnamon include eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, camphor, cinnamyl acetate, and copane, as well as other minor constituents.
Cinnamaldehyde has been revealed to exert antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, blood vessel protection and hypoglycaemic and antibacterial effects.
The main component of cinnamon leaf essential oil is eugenol.19 Nineteen ingredients were extracted from the volatile oil of C. zeylanicum Blume leaves, and eugenol accounted for 87.3%.26 Eugenol showed very powerful activities of inhibiting peroxynitrite-induced lipid peroxidation.
Cinnamaldehyde has also been found to possess substantial antimicrobial, anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties.
Inhibition of angiogenesis. Angiogenesis can aggravate inflammatory responses, induce hemorrhages in the plaque, affect the stability of the plaque, and consequently lead to the occurrence of acute cardiovascular events. A water extract of C. cassia represses vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced angiogenesis in HUVECs by suppressing the tyrosine phosphorylation of VEGFR2 and induces a decrease in VEGF-stimulated microvessel outgrowth in an ex vivo angiogenesis. (a friend of mine has wet macular degeneration in his one eye. Cinnamon could repress the angiogenesis by suppressing the VEGF creating the hemorrhages.)
This is a very long comprehensive article on cinnamon (27 pages), and also covers its uses in Chinese medicine. (Published in 2021)