This new research is a leap forward in the possible development of a drug, or combination of drugs to destroy this common nuisance once and for all. But the effectiveness of a new drug has raised questions. Rhinoviruses (“Rhino” meaning “nose”) belong to the family picornaviridae, and contain over 100 types know to affect humans. This makes the synthesis of “one drug to cure them all” a very difficult task.
Rhinoviruses consist of a positive strand of RNA with a naked nucleocapsid (Figure 1). They are quite temperature sensitive, and this is why a cold only affects the upper respiratory tract, rather than the lower where body heat is greater. They grow and reproduce in the epithelial cells of the body, especially in the nose and upper respiratory tract where they stimulate the release of interferon (antibody response), which in turn stimulates the release of histamines which, in turn, causes your runny nose.
Rhinoviruses are near impossible to treat as they are constantly mutating into new, more resistant strains, and only make up roughly 30% of the viruses that cause the common cold. The advantage of the decoding of the genome is that now the scientist can understand the structure of the viruses, the way they reproduce and their susceptibility to mutation. But the benefits of this research do not stop there.
Rhinoviruses are also suspected to be responsible for the triggering of asthma attacks as they are known to exacerbate bronchial spasms. Whilst a common cold may not seem important enough to spend money on for medication, the development of the drug could have huge benefits for children. A serious infection from a rhinovirus in the respiratory tract of a young child is acknowledged to be the main cause of life-long asthma, as it can re-program the child immune system.
"Though it may be disheartening to think that we may have to use multiple drugs, I still think it's better than not treating, because it [asthma] is a major medical burden," Liggett said.
By James F
Resources:
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/printedition/2009/02/13/cold0213.html?cxntlid=inform_sr
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/02/13/2491020.htm?site=science&topic=health
http://biol1020-2009-1.blogspot.com/
http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/virol/rhino.htm
Figure 1: Image Jean-Yves Sgro. Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Wisconsin
