Cold Severity Linked to Bacteria Living in Your Nose – ScienceDaily

For example, people whose nose is rich in staphylococcus new research shows that bacteria have more severe nasal symptoms than people with colds who have fewer staphylococci. Despite their cold caused by the same strain of virus.

The researchers found that the bacteria in the volunteers' noses fell into six different types of nasal microbiomes. The different models were associated with differences in severity of symptoms. The compositions were also found to correlate with viral load – the amount of cold virus inside the body.

The discovery surprised even long-time researchers who succeeded. "The first surprise was to be able to identify those different buckets that people were integrating into, and then the fact that the buckets seem to have an impact on how you react to the virus and how sick you are is also interesting." said Ronald B. Turner, MD, of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Virginia. "There were effects on the viral load and the amount of virus that you eliminated in your nasal secretions.The background microbiome, the bacterium present in your nose, had an influence on your reaction to the virus and on your state of health . "

The role of your inhabitants

To be clear, the microorganisms living in your nose do not cause cold. The cold itself is caused by a cold virus, of course. And researchers can not tell if the microorganisms in your nose are actually responsible for differences in symptom severity. Perhaps, but more research is needed to determine this.

"What we report is an association, so it's quite possible that the fact that you have staph in your nose and you have more symptoms is not directly related," Turner said. "It could very well be that there is an underlying characteristic of the host that makes you susceptible to having staph in the nose and also makes you more likely to get sick."

For example, your genes could be responsible for both the composition of your nasal microbiome and your reaction to the cold virus. Or it can be a lot more complicated than that. "There are environmental characteristics that also influence it – whether you are exposed to pollution or that you are allergic or that several factors can have an impact – I do not know," said Mr. Turner. "But I suspect that there is an interaction between the host and the environment and the pathogen that determines what you end up with."

The researchers tested152 participants' nasal microbiomes before and after passing on the cold virus, excluding the possibility that the virus or the resulting disease significantly alters the composition of the microbiome.

Could probiotics shorten your cold?

Turner and his colleagues were interested in whether giving people probiotics – beneficial bacteria – could improve their cold symptoms or affect the composition of their nasal microbiomes. The answer? Nope.

The researchers gave the study participants a probiotic to drink. Not only did this not affect the microbiomes in their nose, but it also did not have much effect on the microbiomes in their stomachs. "We can detect the probiotic in the intestine very frequently, not in everyone, but very frequently," said Turner. "This has not really dramatically influenced the microbiome pattern of the intestine, so it's not as if the probiotic is altering the microbiome of the intestine substantially."

It is possible that the administration of a probiotic directly into the nose, for example by spraying, has more effect. But Turner, who has been researching colds for decades, is skeptical that it would make a big difference.

"It's not going to be that simple, I do not think, saying," OK, what happens if you give a probiotic? "He said." One of the things that would be interesting to ask, and it would be a completely different study: what happens if you give antibiotics? Can you change the nasal flora by administering antibiotics? And is it a good thing or a bad thing? These are all unknowns. "

Published results

The researchers published their results in Scientific reports. The work was done in collaboration with UVA, DuPont Nutrition & Health and 4Pharma Ltd. The research team consisted of Markus J. Lehtinen, Ashley A. Hibberd, Sofia Männikkö, Nicolas Yeung, Tommi Kauko, Forssten Sofia, Liisa Lehtoranta and Sampo J. Lahtinen. , Buffy Stahl, Anna Lyra and Turner.

Turner and other members of the research team received funding from DuPont, the manufacturer of a probiotic used in the study.