Curcumin studied as a treatment for cystic fibrosis

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Re: Curcumin Studied as a Treatment for Cystic Fibrosis Zeitlin P. Can curcumin cure cystic fibrosis?. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2004;351(6):606-608. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a progressive and ultimately fatal inherited disorder in which thick mucus clogs the lungs and pancreas, trapping bacteria and harming digestion. It is caused by a mutant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene. The author examines a study by Egan et al.1 in which curcumin, an ingredient in the spice turmeric (Curcuma longa), was offered as a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of CF. Curcumin has been "touted as an antioxidant, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and cholesterol-lowering herbal supplement," says the author.Egan and his colleagues administered curcumin by oral gavage to CF-stricken mice. The mice, with the same genetic defect that causes the human form of the

disease, express the CF defect primarily in the gastrointestinal tract and rarely live beyond four weeks. Treated mice had dramatically increased rates of survival: Only 10 percent of the mice treated with curcumin died within 10 weeks, compared with 60% of the untreated mice. Furthermore, the surviving mice gained weight. The next step, says the author, is to test curcumin in a phase 1, dose-escalation, and safety trial in patients with CF. Studies should focus on identifying the active molecules and assessing the absorption of curcumin by the gastrointestinal tract, as well as the metabolism, safety, and duration of its effect. The author cautions physicians to counsel patients with CF not to rush to the health food stores to buy curcumin because inadequate or excessive doses could do more harm than good and could discourage the study of a potentially useful class of therapeutic agents. Instead, he says, eligible patients should consider participating in

placebo-controlled clinical trials of curcumin to help hasten its movement through the developmental process. "The study by Egan et al. is another testament to the pharmacogenetic approach: small-molecule pharmacotherapy tailored to a specific genotype . . . is rapidly becoming a reality for patients with cystic fibrosis and other inherited disorders of protein function," says the author.¯Shari HensonReference1Egan ME, Pearson M, Weiner SA, Rajendran V, Rubin D, Glockner-Pagel J, Canny S, Du K, Lukacs GL, Caplan MJ. Curcumin, a major constituent of tumeric, corrects cystic fibrosis defects. Science 2004;304:600-602

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