Australian Scientists Develop a Nasal Spray That Could Stop SARS-CoV-2 Infection

AHA Publisher — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 07:00:21 +0000

Angela Betsaida B. Laguipo, BSN via News-Medical Net – As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to wreak havoc globally, scientists race to develop an effective medicine or vaccine to fight the infection. With more than 33.5 million people infected since the pandemic started in December 2019, finding a treatment for those infected is crucial to stemming its spread. Now, a biotech company in Australia, Ena Respiratory, said that a nasal spray it is developing might help boost the human immune system to fight flu and common colds, significantly reduced the growth of the coronavirus in a recent study in animals. The potential nasal spray may not only help treat COVID-19 but also prevent it. The Nasal Spray The novel product, called INNA-051, is being developed by Ena Respiratory, and laboratory experiments have shown that it reduced viral replication by as much as 96 percent in the animal study. Spearheaded by Public Health England’s (PHE) Deputy Director, Professor Miles Carroll, the new study described the potential treatment and has been published in the open-source preprint server bioRxiv*. Used as a nasal spray, it aims to boost the natural immune system of the body to fight common colds and flu. It works by triggering the innate immune system, which is the body’s first line of defense against infection from a pathogen. When the drug has enhanced the immune system, it also prevented the infection and replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory. The Study Respiratory tract diseases, including those that cause flu, common colds, and the coronavirus infection, represent major ongoing global health threats. These viruses have caused outbreaks to pandemics, endangering the lives of those who are at higher risk, such as children, older adults, and those who are immunocompromised. The SARS-CoV-2 infection is actively spreading worldwide, and it spreads quickly from one person to another through close contact and respiratory droplets. One of the biggest threats of the current pandemic is that several people infected with the virus are asymptomatic, which means that they do not know that they carry the virus. As a result, they are called silent spreaders. The research team from the National Infection Service, Public Health England (PHE) wanted to develop the nasal spray to prevent the replication of the virus in the nasal area, the most common point of entry of the virus. To test the nasal spray, the team obtained nasal wash and throat swab samples four days before the viral challenge. Upon analyzing the viral RNA in nasal wash samples, the team confirmed infection in all treatment groups, with lower viral RNA levels seen in the INNA-051 treatment. The team has found that prophylactic intra-nasal administration of INNA-051 in the SARS-CoV-2 ferret infection model has reduced levels of viral RNA in the nose and throat. “The results of our study support clinical development of a therapy based on prophylactic TLR2/6 innate immune activation in the URT to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and provide protection against COVID-19,” the team wrote in the paper. Further, the research team added that the prophylactic approach is important to people at a high risk of community transmission or development of the severe disease from COVID-19, such as older adults, people with comorbidities, and those who are immunocompromised. “We’ve been amazed by just how effective our treatment has been. By boosting the natural immune response of the ferrets with our treatment, we’ve seen a rapid eradication of the virus,” Christophe Demaison, the Ena Respiratory Managing Director, said. “If humans respond similarly, the benefits of treatment are two-fold. Individuals exposed to the virus would most likely rapidly eliminate it, with the treatment ensuring that the disease does not progress beyond mild symptoms. This is particularly relevant to vulnerable members of the community. In addition, the rapidity of this response means that the infected individuals are unlikely to pass it on, meaning a swift halt to community transmission,” he added. *Important Notice bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. This article has been modified. To read the original article click here.

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Sinuses Bothering You? Use Those Nasal Sprays Regularly

AHA Publisher — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 08:00:29 +0000

University of Cincinnati via EurekAlert – Many chronic rhino sinusitis patients worry about overuse of antibiotics. A University of Cincinnati researcher says appropriate use of nasal saline and corticosteroid sprays can curtail their fears. Nasal saline and corticosteroid sprays are pretty standard treatment for individuals battling chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). They thin out thick mucus buildup and help ease the swelling in the nasal cavity that are the bane of anyone who has battled what physicians often refer to as the asthma of the sinuses. If used consistently and appropriately, these nasal sprays can lessen the need for antibiotics and oral steroids that are needed when symptom severities flare, according to a recent study from Dr. Ahmad Sedaghat, an ear, nose and throat specialist at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Sedaghat and a team of researchers looked at 150 patients at Massachusetts Eye and Ear undergoing medical management for CRS and found that CRS-related usage of oral steroids and antibiotics dropped by 0.2 courses per three-month period on average. That’s about one fewer courses of antibiotics and oral steroids in a year to deal with severe symptoms of CRS. Those results were reported in the scholarly journal Laryngoscope and, according to researchers, are statistically significant. When researchers focused on individuals in this study needing oral steroids (roughly 40 patients) and those needing antibiotics (33 patients), the use of antibiotics for CRS dropped by 40% while the use of oral steroids associated with CRS decreased by 67%, said Sedaghat. “We found that the use of the sprays or irrigations improved antibiotics and oral steroids usage by closer to three-to-four courses per year, on average, which is a huge effect,” said Sedaghat, also a UC Health physician. “Medication usage was reduced by one course every three-to-four months. The medical therapy we provided in the form of intranasal saline and intranasal steroids dramatically cut down on the usage of systemic antibiotics and steroids.” Antibiotics have gastric and intestinal side effects and lead to body resistance, while long-term use of steroids can cause mood disturbance, insomnia, weight gain, diabetes, cataracts and other problems. “We really want to minimize the use of these medications,” said Sedaghat. “If you simply treat patients regularly and consistently with what we call appropriate medical management, and that means staying on top of them and making sure these patients are using their sprays every single day, these patients will have dramatically fewer problems,” said Sedaghat. CRS is similar to asthma, but it occurs in the sinusitis instead of the lungs. “Most people know someone who has asthma,” he said. “In those individuals, the body produces inflammation in the lining of the lungs, and that leads to wheezing and chest tightening and shortness of breath. In some people, the body produces inflammation in the lining of the sinuses. It’s not fatal like asthma, but chronic rhinosinusitis leads to a dramatic decrease in the quality of life. They are miserable.” There are four main symptoms of CRS — nasal obstruction, nasal drainage, facial pain or pressure and decreased sense of smell. Patients need to have two out of four of these symptoms for at least 12 weeks to be diagnosed with CRS. “The hope is with the consistent use of these nasal irrigations and corticosteroid sprays, we can keep symptoms at an acceptable level and so symptoms don’t affect patients’ quality of life,” said Sedaghat. Sedaghat said researchers initially believed that individuals who came into the study with more severe CRS symptoms would need more antibiotics or steroids. “What we found is that is not the case,” he said. “What we found is the usage of antibiotics and steroids and the acute exacerbations is independent of baseline symptomlogy.” “How bad you are on a day-to-day basis, that behavior of the disease, is very different than the frequency of you getting exacerbations in symptoms. These spikes in symptoms are coming from somewhere else,” said Sedaghat. “If physicians are not savvy to this, you may see someone with low-level symptoms and think the patient will be fine and believe treatment shouldn’t be as rigorous. In those patients, we found exacerbations of symptoms.” “The frequency you needed antibiotics before the study is predictive of the frequency you need antibiotics at the end of the study,” said Sedaghat. “If you needed more antibiotics when you first started, then you will need antibiotics during the study period even if the frequency of exacerbations decreased.” To read the original article click here.

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Australian Scientists Develop a Nasal Spray That Could Stop SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Sinuses Bothering You? Use Those Nasal Sprays Regularly