Spice May Stop Cystic Fibrosis

A substance in a common spice that helps turn curry and mustard yellow might also help treat deadly cystic fibrosis, according to a study by Yale University scientists.

Eating large doses of the substance found in the spice turmeric significantly cut deaths among mice with the genetic disease.

The substance, called curcumin, is sold as a dietary supplement, but cystic fibrosis specialists emphasized that patients should not self-medicate. No one knows if large amounts of curcumin could interact dangerously with other medicines they take.

Cystic fibrosis attacks patients’ lungs with a thick mucus, trapping bacteria. It also harms digestion and vitamin absorption as the mucus clogs other organs. Treatments fight only symptoms, not the disease.

The curcumin research, published in the current issue of Science, shows a possible way to attack the disease’s underlying cause. In most patients, cystic fibrosis’ damage stems from a single genetic defect. It skews a protein, CFTR, that normally travels to cell surfaces to create openings for chloride ions to escape. But cells police protein quality, trapping mutated CFTR and shuttling it to a holding bin for destruction. Thus, chloride can’t escape, and salt buildup leads to mucus formation.

The cellular holding bin also stores calcium, which many of the cells’ protein policemen needed to function. Curcumin blocks the release of calcium, allowing mutated CFTR time to escape to the membrane.