Tag: turmeric

Categories : AntibioticsTags :

A New Way of Destroying Superbugs – a Combination of Turmeric and Light

On By ModernMedia
Photo by TUMERI on Unsplash

Joining the effort to fight these deadly pathogens, researchers at Texas A&M have now shown that curcumin, the compound that gives turmeric its characteristic bright yellow colour, can potentially be used to reduce antibiotic resistance. 

The researchers showed that when curcumin is intentionally given to bacteria as food and then activated by light, it can trigger deleterious reactions within these microbes, eventually killing them. This process, they demonstrated, reduces the number of antibiotic-resistant strains and renders conventional antibiotics effective again.

The results of the study are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Antibiotics have increased the human lifespan by 23 years on average. But as the development of new antibiotics has tapered off, antibiotic resistance has grown. Infectious diseases are now projected to be the main causes of human mortality once again, claiming up to 10 million lives annually. 

“When bacteria start becoming resistant to conventional antibiotics, we have what we call an antibiotic catastrophe,” said Dr Vanderlei Bagnato, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and senior author on the study. “To overcome this challenge, we need alternative ways to either kill the superbugs or find a novel way to modify natural processes within the bacteria so that antibiotics start to act again.” 

Bacteria display natural variation within a given population. This heterogeneity introduces variations in cell behaviours, including response to antibiotics, which can directly contribute to treatment resistance if some strains survive antimicrobial medication and continue replicating. Thus, the researchers wanted to curb bacterial heterogeneity to control bacterial resistance.

Photodynamic inactivation, a technique that has shown promise in combating bacterial resistance, uses light and light-sensitive molecules, called photosensitisers, to produce reactive oxygen species that can kill microorganisms by disrupting their metabolic processes. In their experiments, the team used curcumin, which is also a natural food for bacteria. They tested this technique on strains of Staphylococcus aureus that are resistant to amoxicillin, erythromycin, and gentamicin. 

The researchers exposed the bacteria to many cycles of light exposure and then compared the minimum concentration of antibiotics needed to kill the bacteria after light exposure versus those that did not get light exposure. 

“When we have a mixed population of bacteria where some are resistant, we can use photodynamic inactivation to narrow the bacterial distribution, leaving behind strains that are more or less similar in their response to antibiotics,” said Bagnato. “It’s much easier now to predict the precise antibiotic dose needed to remove the infection.”

The team noted that photodynamic inactivation using curcumin has tremendous potential as an adjuvant or additional therapy with antibiotics for diseases, like pneumonia, caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

“Photodynamic inactivation offers a cost-effective treatment option, which is crucial for reducing medical expenses not only in developing countries but also in the United States,” said Dr Vladislav Yakovlev, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and author on the study. “It also has potential applications in military medicine, where this technology could be used to treat battlefield wounds and prevent the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance, a significant concern in combat situations.”

Source: Texas A&M University

Categories : GastrointestinalTags :

Turmeric as Effective as Omeprazole for Treating Dyspepsia, Comparative Study Suggests

On By ModernMedia
Source: Pixabay cc0

A natural compound found in the culinary spice turmeric may be as effective as the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) omeprazole for treating indigestion symptoms, suggests the first study of its kind, published online in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.

Turmeric is derived from the root of the Curcuma longa plant. The spice contains a naturally active compound called curcumin thought to have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, and has long been used as a medicinal remedy, including for the treatment of indigestion, in South East Asia. 

But it’s not clear how well it compares with conventional drugs for this indication, largely because there have been no head to head studies.

The researchers therefore randomly assigned 206 patients aged 18–70 with recurrent upset stomach (functional dyspepsia) of unknown cause, recruited from hospitals in Thailand between 2019 and 2021, to one of three treatment groups for a period of 28 days.

These were: turmeric (two large 250mg capsules of curcumin 4 times a day) and one small dummy capsule; omeprazole (one small 20mg capsule daily and two large dummy capsules 4 times a day; and turmeric plus omeprazole.

PPIs such as omeprazole are used to treat functional dyspepsia, the symptoms of which include postprandial fullness, early satiety, and pain and/or epigastric pain.

But long term use of PPIs has been linked to increased fracture risk, micronutrient deficiencies, and a heightened risk of infections, note the researchers.

Of the 206 patients enrolled, 151 completed the study, with 20 in the curcumin group;19 in the omeprazole group; and 16 in the combined treatment group, dropping out. 

Patients in all three groups had similar clinical characteristics and indigestion scores, as assessed by the Severity of Dyspepsia Assessment score or SODA, at the start of the trial. Patients were reassessed after 28 days and then again after 56 days.

SODA scores indicated significant reductions in symptom severity by day 28 for pain (−4.83, –5.46 and −6.22) and other symptoms (−2.22, –2.32, and −2.31) for those in the combined, curcumin alone, and omeprazole alone groups, respectively. 

These improvements were even stronger after 56 days for pain (−7.19, –8.07 and −8.85, respectively) and other symptoms (−4.09, –4.12 and −3.71, respectively). 

SODA also captures satisfaction scores: these scarcely changed over time among the curcumin users, which might possibly be related to its taste and/or smell, suggest the researchers.

No serious side effects were reported, although liver function tests indicated some level of deterioration among curcumin users carrying excess weight, note the researchers.

They acknowledge the small size of the study, as well as several other limitations, including the short intervention period and lack of long-term monitoring data. Further larger, long term studies are needed, they say.

Nevertheless, they conclude: “This multicentre randomised controlled trial provides highly reliable evidence for the treatment of functional dyspepsia,” adding that “the new findings from our study may justify considering curcumin in clinical practice.”

Source: EurekAlert!