Researchers link a bacteria species, once believed to be innocuous, to chronic sinusitis—persistent inflammation of the sinuses—and also come up with an unusual potential cure. Introducing a second bacterial species into the noses of mice prevented the sinusitis-causing strain from gaining a foothold and causing symptoms. The study, published today (Sept 12) in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that maintaining and augmenting the normal microflora of the nose may be an effective sinusitis treatment.
“This is an extremely interesting result with fascinating potential implications for the treatment of disease,” said Martin Desrosiers, an ear, nose and throat specialist at the Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu in Montréal, Québec, who was not involved in the research. “[It’s] a radical and exciting idea…[that] gives us new insight into chronic sinusitis,” he said.
Despite sinusitis being one of the commonest afflictions—affecting some 15 percent of the US population annually—little is known about the etiology of the disease. ...
