Alleviation of Common Cold Symptoms

Summary

Upper respiratory infections (URIs) have long posed a significant burden to the US healthcare system. Well before the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic they have been among the most common acute outpatient illnesses, causing 75-100 million physician visits each year on average, and costing the health care system billions of dollars annually. This double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study tested the efficacy of two anti-inflammatory throat sprays against placebo and against a throat spray taken in conjunction with 325mg of aspirin, a well-known systemically administered cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor. Participants having common cold symptoms lasting less than two days were enrolled and given treatment to administer at home. Various common cold symptoms were assessed and measured via clinically validated self-assessment scales. Participants were screened for influenza and COVID-19 before enrollment and were excluded if found positive.

Timeline

Start

2022-05-25

Primary completion

2023-04-08

Completion

2023-06-16

Publications

• Background Shulman ST, Bisno AL, Clegg HW, Gerber MA, Kaplan EL, Lee G, Martin JM, Van Beneden C. Clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis and management of group A streptococcal pharyngitis: 2012 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Nov 15;55(10):1279-82. doi: 10.1093/cid/cis847.
• Background Kim SY, Chang YJ, Cho HM, Hwang YW, Moon YS. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Sep 21;2015(9):CD006362. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006362.pub4.
• Background Winther B, Gwaltney JM Jr, Mygind N, Turner RB, Hendley JO. Sites of rhinovirus recovery after point inoculation of the upper airway. JAMA. 1986 Oct 3;256(13):1763-7.
• Background Rees GL, Eccles R. Sore throat following nasal and oropharyngeal bradykinin challenge. Acta Otolaryngol. 1994 May;114(3):311-4. doi: 10.3109/00016489409126062.
• Background Proud D, Reynolds CJ, Lacapra S, Kagey-Sobotka A, Lichtenstein LM, Naclerio RM. Nasal provocation with bradykinin induces symptoms of rhinitis and a sore throat. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1988 Mar;137(3):613-6. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/137.3.613.
• Background Doyle WJ, Boehm S, Skoner DP. Physiologic responses to intranasal dose-response challenges with histamine, methacholine, bradykinin, and prostaglandin in adult volunteers with and without nasal allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1990 Dec;86(6 Pt 1):924-35. doi: 10.1016/s0091-6749(05)80156-3.
• Background Gupta U, Verma M. Placebo in clinical trials. Perspect Clin Res. 2013 Jan;4(1):49-52. doi: 10.4103/2229-3485.106383. No abstract available.
• Background Schachtel B, Aspley S, Shephard A, Shea T, Smith G, Schachtel E. Utility of the sore throat pain model in a multiple-dose assessment of the acute analgesic flurbiprofen: a randomized controlled study. Trials. 2014 Jul 3;15:263. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-15-263.
• Background Glatthaar-Saalmuller B, Mair KH, Saalmuller A. Antiviral activity of aspirin against RNA viruses of the respiratory tract-an in vitro study. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2017 Jan;11(1):85-92. doi: 10.1111/irv.12421. Epub 2016 Sep 22.
• Background Eccles R, Loose I, Jawad M, Nyman L. Effects of acetylsalicylic acid on sore throat pain and other pain symptoms associated with acute upper respiratory tract infection. Pain Med. 2003 Jun;4(2):118-24. doi: 10.1046/j.1526-4637.2003.03019.x.
• Background Leyva-Grado V, Pugach P, Sadeghi-Latefi N. A novel anti-inflammatory treatment for bradykinin-induced sore throat or pharyngitis. Immun Inflamm Dis. 2021 Dec;9(4):1321-1335. doi: 10.1002/iid3.479. Epub 2021 Jun 21.
• Pugach P, Sadeghi-Latefi N. Supporting respiratory epithelia and lowering inflammation to effectively treat common cold symptoms: A randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2024 Nov 27;19(11):e0301959. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301959. eCollection 2024.

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