Effects of Curcumin Supplementation on Quality of Life of Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common genetic disorders in children. CF patients are susceptible to chronic lung infections and malabsorption. Although patient longevity is increased by multidisciplinary care, patients still suffer from respiratory failure and low quality of life. In this situation, CF patients tend to use complementary treatments. To the best of our knowledge there is no research about curcumin supplementation in CF patients; thus, we decided to investigate the effects of curcumin supplementation on anthropometric indices, and quality of life in children with cystic fibrosis.

 Materials and Methods:

 This randomized control-controlled clinical study was conducted in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Forty CF patients were randomly sorted into intervention (n=20), and control (n=20) groups. Patients received 3 curcumin nanoparticles (80 mg; total dose 240 mg/d) for six consecutive months. Before and after intervention, height and weight were measured and quality of life of patients was evaluated by the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 (CITE). 

After intervention, the percentage of weight changes showed a significant increase in the curcumin group compared to the control group (7.48±4.68 vs. 4.15±4.68 kg, p=0.03). Following the intervention, only the percentage of change in emotional functioning scores was significant (p=0.01).  Subjects in the curcumin group showed a trend towards more improvement in terms of percentage change in physical functioning (19.28±31.65 vs.  15.24±47.14), and school functioning scores (40.96±42.93 vs 23.90±14.82) compared with the control group.  

Conclusion:

 Our findings suggest that curcumin may be a useful, inexpensive, and safe supplement in combination with conventional therapy to improve body weight in CF children.