Hormone-based spray beating common cold

Press, 11 January 1986, Page 25

Hormone-based spray beating common cold

By

DANIEL Q. HANEY

NZPA-AP-AAP Boston, United States A nose spray made from the human hormone, interferon, is the first treatment to protect people from catching the common cold, and it may someday become a routine weapon against this pervasive woe, Australian and American researchers say. Two new studies found that the spray is highly potent against rhinovirus, &y far the most frequent cause of colds, when people use it at home. It can prevent nearly 80 per cent of all colds caused by this variety of virus. The spray was powerless against other germs, such as the influenza virus, that also cause cold symptoms. But in spite of this shortcoming, those who used the spray suffered 40 per cent fewer colds overall than those who did not. “This is, to our knowledge, the first instance where it has been possible under natural field conditions to show prevention of transmission of colds in the household,” said Dr Frederick Hayden. Earlier attempts at using interferon against the cold produced annoying stuffiness — a symptom researchers—were trying to prevent — and those taking the treatment suffered more cold-like miseries than those who did not.

In the two new studies, reported in the “New England Journal of Medicine, the interferon spray was not used to cure the common cold, but to prevent it However, Hayden is undertaking another study to see if it helps when someone comes down with a cold. The sprays are not yet on the market.

The Schering Corporation, which produced the interferon used in the two

studies, has applied for approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration to sell it as a prescription drug. The treatment was tested by Dr Hayden and colleagues at the University of Virginia, and by a team headed by Dr Robert Douglas, at the University of Adelaide, Australia. The results of the two experiments were nearly identical, and the Australian group said their work provided convincing evidence of interferon benefits against the common cold. “The remarkable thing about these two studies is their near duplication of data in two completely independent trials conducted on two continents.

“Thus, we can be confident of the data,” Dr G. Gordon Douglas, of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Centre, wrote in an accompanying editorial. In an attempt to avoid interferon’s side effects, the researchers gave the medicine in higher dosages over a shorter period of time than in previous studies. The strategy worked, and about 10 per cent had minor nasal bleeding, but no other symptoms. Hayden said more research would be necessary to learn if the sprays were safe for people with breathing disorders, such as asthma.

“I do think that in the long run, once we understand what the optimal closing schedule is, it will have a role in preventing colds in otherwise healthy adults,” he said.

Schering officials will not say how much the spray will cost.

'Because of the competitive situation, we do not wish to disclose our marketing strategies,” said a spokesman. “But we believe that

eventually we will be able to provide an affordable treatment for prevention of the common cold.”

In the Australian study, doctors tested interferon on 46 families, while the Virginian researchers tested 60 families.

Half got interferon sprays, while the rest were supplied with look-alike placebos.

In both studies, adults took the medicine only if another family member came home with a cold. They then sprayed themselves once a day for a week.

The cold is one of the most frequent afflictions of humanity.

Americans suffer between one and six colds a year, and the disease is a major cause of lost work time.

Douglas noted that last year, Americans spent an estimated $lll2 million on over-the-counter cold treatments. More than 200 different viruses are thought to cause cold symptoms.

the rhinoviruses are the most important, and account for between 30 and 50 per cent of cases in adults. The hormone, interferon, is one of the body’s chief defences against disease. Although it occurs naturally in miniscule amounts, it can be produced in quantity with genetically altered bacteria.