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Show ' Pagfe AH THE DAILY HERALD, Provo. Utah, Sunday, November 6, 1994 Researchers hot on the trail of a new way to attack colds By TRISHA GURA Chicago Tribune One might think that with so many intelligent doctors and so much h medical research around, someone could cure a measly cold. No one has, and according to experts, no one will soon, although drug companies gross $2 billion a year peddling remedies for sniffles, sore throats and similar respiratory malaises. Yet, there may be hope. Rather than abandoning cold missufferers to their eries, some researchers are plotting a new plan of attack, one that will help unlock one of the body's great mysteries: the immune defense system. Smart scientists have given up trying to kill viral parasites. Instead, they want to biochemically squelch the signs of the battlefield the chills, coughs and aching joints before they occur. "If you get infected with a (cold) virus, it triggers a response that makes you sick," said Dr. Ronald Turner, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleshigh-tec- self-limite- d ton. To thwart a cold, reasoned Turner and colleagues, people might be able to modify the body's immune response before it becomes overzealous in what he calls "a to the virus. side-reactio- n" The key is to find the exact immunochemical trigger of cold symptoms, then conjure up methods-to block or dampen it. That the body could still fight the way, virus, but avoid two weeks of aching annoyance. Some experts such a Dr. Gary speNoskin, an infectious-diseas- e cialist at Northwestern University, agTee that some researchers arc shifting their strategy, in general. Where previously the focus was viruses, now it is immunity. Scores of experiments are under viral-attac- k way involving all aspects of the cells that affect the immune system, devising ways to shut them off, supercharge them or alter their genes. Scientists, however, disagree whether this is the best ap- proach. Most of the research involves such killers and cripplers as can cer, AIDS and rheumatoid arthritis, but there is a stalwart band studying the common cold. 'It is virtually impossible to prevent the common cold," Noskin said. "'But if this preliminary work is accurate, we might be able to block the symptoms." Some researchers are skeptical about shutting down the immune system, but most agree that the only hope for conquering viruses will come from a better understanding of the body's natural immune processes. That way, colds symptoms would vanish forever. And with them, the huge market for nostrums that do little more than relieve discomfort. The reason that such drugs don't er is because colds are caused by at least 100 different viruses, tiny parasites made of a cure colds single DNA strand surrounded by outer shell . Such viruses can quickly change both their DNA inside the shell and the signals on their outside capsule in order to fool the immune system. Evolution has provided them with clever ways to. survive and thrive, at least for a while. Rhinoviruses, adenoviruses and each differs accordparaviruses its to genetic material and outing but all have eluded side coat development of effective vaccines or antiv iral drugs. The adenovirus is shaped like a soccer ball. very tiny Sticky outgrowths called fiber allow it to cling to cell surfaces like burrs to animal fur. Once a respiratory tract cell senses that a virus has latched on. it quickly swallows the parasite. That is exactly what the virus hopes for. Then, the tiny invader can seize the cell's reproductive machinery and begin churning out countless copies of itself. The result: a miniature virus factory. a protective 20-sid- Meanwhile, the human body spreads the virus far and wide via moisture-lade- n saliva droplets, sneezed into the air or passed on by contaminated hands. Tissues, drinking glasses and even doorknobs can be sources of invisible predators, since the robust viruses can live for days outside the body. The Center for Health Statistics estimated that 1 billion colds occurred in the U.S. in 1992. That translated to 157 million days of restricted activity and 15 million days of lost work. Children, on average, get roughly six to eight colds each year. Adults average two to four per year. Nevertheless, experts caution that the risks of treatments have to be weighed against the seriousness of the illness, particularly when researchers would dare to tamper with the body's natural immunity. "We're not talking about a cure for cancer," Noskin said. "A cold M will cure itself." It seems likely that scarce research dollars will be channeled into treating diseases such as herpes and AIDS that are and have more senot rious consequences. However, a growing group of colds researchers are pursuing a new high-tec- h approach. They ' to hope pinpoint specific immunochemical triggers for attack, while leaving the rest of the body's defenses untouched. At a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology a few weeks ago, South Carolina's Turner announced his discovery of a novel candidate, a blood-born- e substance called interleukin-8- , or JJJ viral-induc- self-limiti- MttAfS IIIIV11II LA IL-- 8. Interleukin means between I a cell communiwhite cator, recruits germ-bustin- g blood cells from the bloodstream and sends them to specific sites to s. combat foreign Normally, after such cells unleash an exceedingly complex and blood cells. IL-- 8, II' 0 ANY ONE REGULAR 1 m mi IJEM jj micro-invader- programmed cascade of biochemi-calthe result is a dead virus and a the body. ravaged battlefield s, And that is why people feel so sick. Researchers are now trying to unlock the secrets of the body's the order of immune response attack by the different components and how they maneuver in response to different invaders. mm m Turner first measures the reaction of human cells to viral infection. Since animals don't get colds, even when exposed to the virus, any significant finding in the lab must then be tried out with human volunteers. "Some people get colds after being infected by virus," Turner said. "Others do not. We are '' trying to understand why. t m J lu Friday i Saturday, 2, 199 Nov. 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