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TUCSON - The Steele Children's Research Center at the University of Arizona College of Medicine has received a $1 million, four-year continuation grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance its research into the efficacy of curcumin in the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

IBD refers to two inflammatory diseases: Crohn's Disease, which affects the entire gastrointestinal tract, and ulcerative colitis, which affects the colon. Both cause severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue and weight loss.

Curcumin is the biologically active ingredient in turmeric - the key ingredient in curry --
which has been used in India for thousands of years to treat colds, inflammation, arthritis and many other ailments.

For several years, Steele Center researchers have been investigating how curcumin aids in treating IBD. Principal investigator Pawel Kiela, DVM, PhD, research associate professor, and co-investigator Fayez K. Ghishan, MD, pediatric gastroenterologist, Steele Center director and professor, previously have shown that curcumin decreases severe inflammation in the gut.