Dietary Spice Protects Against Environmental Contaminants

By CP Staff

An herbal antioxidant may reduce the toxicity related to intake of common water contaminants, according to the results of a new study.

Both arsenic and fluoride are well-known environmental contaminants that can damage DNA resulting in mutations, toxicity, and possibly cancer. In this new study, isolated human peripheral lymphocytes (white blood cells) received one of 3 treatments: 1) curcumin, the active constituent of turmeric; 2) no treatment, which served as the negative control; or 3) ethyl methane sulphonate, a compound known for causing DNA mutations that served as the positive control. The cells were then treated with arsenic, fluoride or both. After 24 hours, the cell cultures were evaluated for DNA damage and chromosomal changes.

The results of this in vitro study showed that curcumin significantly decreased the amount of chromosomal damage caused by arsenic and fluoride. In fact, there was a 60 percent reduction in the number of structural chromosomal aberrations in the cells treated with curcumin. In addition, there was a 50 percent decrease in the number of cells that had a reduction in the normal chromosomal number (hypoploidy) and a decrease in primary DNA damage with curcumin treatment compared to the cells that were not treated with curcumin.

The researchers stated, “In conclusion, curcumin mitigates the genotoxic effects of the two well known water contaminants (arsenic and fluoride) effectively and efficiently at the given concentration in vitro.”

Reference:

Tiwari H, Rao MV. Curcumin supplementation protects from genotoxic effects of arsenic and fluoride. Food Chem Toxicol. 2010 Feb 17. Published Online Ahead of Print.