04 Jul Curcumin and Protection Against Long-Term Hyperoxic Lung Injury

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Virender K. Rehan, MD
Los Angeles Biomedical Research
Institute (LA BioMed).

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Rehan: This is the first study to show that the active ingredient in Indian spice
turmeric provides long term protection against neonatal lung damage that
leads to chronic lung disease of prematurity.

MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Rehan: Though the findings were in line with our proposed hypothesis, this is the
first demonstration that using a natural substance can provide long-term
protection against oxygen-mediated lung damage to the newborn lung.

MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Rehan: It is likely that in near future we might be able to refine our proposed
approach for clinical use to prevent and treat chronic lung damage in
premature infants, which remains a significant factor in prematurity-related
morbidity and mortality.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Rehan: In addition to future mechanistic studies, this study opens the door to test curcumin therapy for not only preventing chronic lung disease, but also
other related morbidities such as the eye (retinopathy of prematurity) and
brain (intra/periventricular hemorrhage) damage in premature infants.

Citation:

Curcumin Protects the Developing Lung Against Long-Term Hyperoxic Injury
Reiko Sakurai,  Patricia Villarreal, Sumair Husain, Jie Liu, Tokusho Sakurai, Emiley Tou, John S. Torday, and Virender K Rehan

Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol ajplung.00082.2013;
published ahead of print June 28, 2013,
doi:10.1152/ajplung.00082.2013

Last Updated on July 16, 2013 by Marie Benz MD FAAD