A new study suggests, that something as simple as a common food preservative might help improve the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Scientists have known for some time that the bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, grows within the deadly, lung-clogging mucous found in the airways of cystic fibrosis patients and significantly weakens them.
In this new study Daniel Hassett, PhD, an associate professor in the University of Cincinnati's molecular genetics, biochemistry and microbiology department, says they have discovered what might be the "Achilles' heel" of a dangerous organism that lives in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients.
Apparently a mutation, known as mucA, in the organism also represents a fatal flaw that could help physicians clear the guck from the lungs of advanced cystic fibrosis patients.
The researchers are optimistic because they say it is that the same genetic change that turns Pseudomonas aeruginosa into a sticky, antibiotic-resistant killer but also leaves it susceptible to destruction by slightly acidified sodium nitrite, a common chemical that is widely used in the curing of lunch meat, sausages and bacon.
Dr. Hassett says they believe the organism, which some people thought could never be beaten, can now be destroyed by nothing more exotic than a common food preservative.
Cystic fibrosis affects about 30,000 people in the United States, mostly Caucasians of north European origin, and is an inherited disease caused by a defect in a gene called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR).
It affects the airways and many other vital organs and processes, cystic fibrosis is chronic, progressive and ultimately fatal, mostly as a result of respiratory failure.