Press releases

Released January 18, 1996
Yale-New Haven Hospital news release

Yale Study Takes First Step to Defining
Molecular Mechanism of the Common Cold

JOINT RELEASE:
Yale-New Haven Hospital, Ken Best 203-688-2493
Yale School of Medicine, Helaine Patterson 203-785-5824

Researchers at Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Yale University School of Medicine have taken an important first step in the search for the cure for the common cold. They have defined, at the molecular level, how Rhinovirus--the virus which causes the common cold--triggers the host that causes the symptoms of the common cold.

"This is an important new insight into the molecular mechanism of the common cold," says Dr. Jack A. Elias, chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Yale-New Haven and professor of pulmonary medicine and section chief at the Yale School of Medicine. "This could lead to ways of blocking the activation process, which could lead to ways of controlling the symptoms of a cold, the most common infectious illness in humans."

The research findings are reported in the January edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The team of researchers working on the project included specialists from Yale University School of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Health Care Center in West Haven and the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center.

Dr. Elias said researchers now better understand that the cold virus infects the mucosal linings of the nose, causing these cells to produce proteins known as cytokines, that in turn, cause inflammation and cold symptoms. The researchers identified one such cytokine, interleuken 6 (IL-6), in the nasal secretions of volunteers who had experimentally induced colds.

They also demonstrated that the cold virus stimulates the production of IL-6 by activating a family of molecules known as Nuclear Factor Kappa Beta transcription factors (NF-kB), which stimulate cytokine production at the level of the gene. This discovery opens the door to the possibility that regulators of NF-kB can be used in the future to control the intensity, duration and/or severity of the common cold, Dr. Elias said.

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