Anti biofilm attributes of Curcumin

@lynn63 wow what was the name of the site and do you know how curcumin was taken in the trial ie by mouth, so interesting. Thanks Heather

Hi Heather, if I was at my computer, I would give you the link. But if you Google curcumin biofilm mycobacteria you will find several scholarly articles. I think the research is quite preliminary and I expect to see more information in the future.
Sue

Very interesting. Thanks for doing the research and for sharing.

I’m also curious about whether the curcumin was taken in pill form or nebulized/inhaled.
Thanks

Here is the article I found describing the research project: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321382576_Curcumin_an_antibiotic_resistance_breaker_against_a_multiresistant_clinical_isolate_of_Mycobacterium_abscessus

This is a summary of the findings, based on tests of the combination of antibiotics & drugs on Mycobacteria Abscessus on slides: "Overall, the present findings lend support to the notion thatcurcumin is a potential antibiotic resistance breaker, that is, a com-pound capable of restoring the effectiveness of failing antibiotics byreducing their MICs (Brown, 2015). The strong effect of curcuminand amikacin on biofilm reported herein emphasizes the significanceof their synergistic association. Further work on the ability of curcuminto synergize with antibiotics against M. abscessus infections is warranted"

I cannot find any current articles on actual in-body testing. There is a study of the effect on dental bacteria from 2020, but again it was conducted on slides, not on people. (https://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12866-020-01975-5#Sec10)

Does anyone else have a current article to cite, because this would be a real game changer for all biofilm-enclosed bacteria!
Sue

So interesting when things like this happen. I woke up at 4 am and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I saw this in my photo library and planned to ask my vet about it. You see, my sweet girl was diagnosed with lung cancer recently and someone recommended this. (Btw she is doing beautifully. She’s taking an off label human med used to treat cancer in dogs- Piroxicam. She’s my little shadow. We’re sharing all her bucket list items. Just wish we didn’t have to share lung problems. Maybe we’ll both start taking this supplement as well!)

Love to hear stuff like this! Thanks for sharing the findings on the curcumin! Nan

As with any supplement, be careful with curcumin - it has some interactions with other drugs and supplements. Read about them, and possible side effects here.
It is best to consult with your provider before starting any new supplements

Turmeric/Curcumin “Rocks.” Sez the guy forever seeking the “Silver Bullet.”

Hi Sue @sueinmn and Lynne @lynne63, you're right, there is growing research evidence about the effectiveness of Curcumin in its most bio-available form for treating infections and disrupting or inhibiting biofilm. The best most-bio-available formulation I've found is called 'Doctor's Best' -- which you can buy online, but it is expensive!

And Sue you are also right about the risk of interactions between Curcumin and some drugs. Before we buy it and take it, we need to get advice from pharmacists or look up the drug interactions ourselves.

If you are taking TB meds like Azithromycin (or Clarithromycin), or Clofazimine, please note that research on Curcumin shows it is a potent hERG blocker. In other words, the interaction of these TB drugs with Curcumin can cause long QT in the heart, or increase it. Long QT is a serious heart rhythm problem.

(Because you've had long QT, Heather @heathert please DON'T use a highly bio-available form of Curcumin, or don't use it at all while you're on Azithromycin. Plain Turmeric powder is okay, no problem).

I need to take both Azithromycin and Clofazimine, and have already recorded long QT a few times from the interaction of those 2 drugs . When I used the highly bio-available Curcumin as well, I got even worse long QT. The doctors told me to stop using it.

BUT I definitely do plan to use highly bio-available Curcumin again, after I'm able to stop taking the Azithromycin and Clofazimine TB meds.

So yes, Curcumin does look like it could be a very promising treatment for us, but we need to be careful of interactions with our TB meds first.