Everyday food preservative provides hope for Cystic Fibrosis sufferers

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.

Until the 1980s, most deaths from cystic fibrosis occurred in children and teenagers, but now with improved treatments, people with cystic fibrosis live an average of 35 years.

Dr. Hassett said he envisions sodium nitrite could be used in aerosol form to treat mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis lung disease and would not need to be a long-term treatment.

But Dr. Hassett concedes gaining approval for the treatment from the FDA will not be easy, because the sodium nitrite treatment may have some toxic side effects.

The finding is reported in the February 2006 edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation by a 15-member U.S. and Canadian team headed by Daniel Hassett, PhD, an associate professor in UC's molecular genetics, biochemistry and microbiology department.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.