Prof explores treatment for mustard gas

Jim Erickson, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 3, 2007 at midnight

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A University of Colorado researcher has been awarded $2.7 million from the federal government to determine if a common dietary supplement can treat burns caused by mustard gas, a chemical warfare agent and potential terrorist weapon.

Rajesh Agarwal will study whether silibinin, a dietary supplement derived from the milk thistle plant, can prevent or treat skin blisters caused by mustard gas exposure.

"Our long-term strategy is to develop some type of ointment that can be applied to the skin immediately after exposure," said Agarwal, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the CU School of Pharmacy.

Agarwal's previous work on milk-thistle extracts showed they can help prevent skin cancer in mice exposed to ultraviolet radiation, he said.

Since skin cells react to ultraviolet radiation and to mustard gas in similar ways, Agarwal reasoned that milk-thistle extracts might also be effective against the chemical warfare agent.

The National Institutes of Health will provide $2.7 million over the next five years for the research.

No mustard gas will be used. Instead, laboratory mice will be exposed to a similar but less toxic substance called half mustard, Agarwal said.

Mustard gas, also known as sulfur mustard, is a chemical warfare agent that causes blistering of the skin and mucous membranes.

It was first used in World War I and was reportedly used during the 1980s in the Iran-Iraq War, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry.

As a dietary supplement, silibinin is used to treat and prevent liver toxicity.

Milk thistle is a member of the daisy family that grows wild throughout much of Europe, North America and Australia.

It has been used for 2,000 years to treat a range of liver and gallbladder diseases.

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