SAN ANTONIO -- A component of the inexpensive curry spice turmeric may help ward off infection with Clostridium difficile in hospitals, researchers said here.
Curcumin -- the active ingredient in the spice turmeric -- inhibited the growth of various strains of C. difficile in vitro, according to Rattan Patel, MD, of Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues.
"It's likely that daily use of turmeric in hospital settings, in food products like curry or soup, can potentially decrease the incidence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea," Patel said at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting.
Action Points
- Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
- Explain that growth of Clostridium difficile was inhibited on plates in the laboratory when extracts of the spice turmeric were added to the growth medium.
- Note that while eating an inexpensive spice to avoid acquiring C. difficile infection would be appealing, more work needs to be done to see if growth of the organism and toxin production would be blocked by ingesting turmeric.
Mark Mellow, MD, of Integris Health in Oklahoma City, Okla., called the idea "fascinating" but said more work needs to be done to confirm these very early findings.
Patel explained that indigenous people on the Indian subcontinent have been using turmeric for more than 2,000 years to ward off gastrointestinal infection.
Based on a literature search, Patel and colleagues said that more than 40 trials have investigated turmeric as an intervention for a host of conditions.
So the researchers looked at the ability of turmeric to inhibit the growth of C. difficile under different laboratory conditions.
They tested turmeric in different culture bases: water, 1% dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO), 2% DMSO, and 20% ethanol. Brucella agar was used as a solvent control.
They then inoculated 13 strains of toxigenic C. difficile and two strains of Bacteroides, an anaerobic control, onto respective plates in an anaerobic chamber.
After 48 hours of anaerobic growth, they assessed each plate and found that all strains of C. difficile were inhibited by the turmeric extract using 1% DSMO, 2% DSMO, and 20% ethanol.
It also showed that the active ingredient curcumin is a hydrophobic molecule, Patel said.
Noting that the turmeric cost just $1.99 at the grocery store, Patel said the spice could potentially be used as a novel and inexpensive means of preventing C. difficile infections in hospitals.
"I just hope that not everyone who eats curry soup in the hospital gets heartburn and gets put on a proton-pump inhibitor [PPI]," Mellow said, referencing other data presented here on a link between PPIs and risk of C. difficile infection.
Patel emphasized that more work needs to be done on these very early trials.
"More studies are needed to determine the mechanism of action of turmeric and the physiological effects," he said.
Disclosures
The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.
Primary Source
American College of Gastroenterology
Source Reference: Patel R, et al "Inhibiting hospital associated infection of toxigenic Clostridium difficile using natural spice, turmeric (curcumin)" ACG 2010; Abstract 331.