The team, led by David Proud, of the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the
University of Calgary, Canada, examined how gene expression levels change when we are infected by the rhinovirus that causes almost half of all cases of the common cold.
The study confirms what scientists had always suspected that an over-response by the immune system is actually to blame for cold symptoms rather than the virus itself. It’s almost as if the virus triggers allergy symptoms, one might say, which is why the symptoms of seasonal rhinitis (hayfever) are so similar to the cold and why it is often referred to as a “summer cold”.
Proud is internationally renowned for his research into allergies and asthma.
More importantly, however, the researchers have identified several new targets for treatment that may one day help researchers to develop more effective therapies to minimize symptoms of the common cold and possibly even prevent infection.
The work was publishedin the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (Nov 1;178(9):962-968).
Additional information is available here.
However, I had just one rather loaded question for Dr Proud – will this research actually lead to a cure for the common cold? This was his reply to me: “It depends on many things. We will not stop colds from happening – so, in that sense, no we will not ‘cure’ the common cold,” he told me, “If we are lucky, we could develop more effective therapies for treatment but there is no guarantee of that.”
So, the bottom line is that the research is interesting, but may not have a practical application. So in the meantime, check out this advice on how to avoid colds and flu this winter.
D. Proud, R. B. Turner, B. Winther, S. Wiehler, J. P. Tiesman, T. D. Reichling, K. D. Juhlin, A. W. Fulmer, B. Y. Ho, A. A. Walanski, C. L. Poore, H. Mizoguchi, L. Jump, M. L. Moore, C. K. Zukowski, J. W. Clymer (2008). Gene Expression Profiles during In Vivo Human Rhinovirus Infection: Insights into the Host Response American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 178 (9), 962-968 DOI: 10.1164/rccm.200805-670OC