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Respiratory Infection: Original Article

Larch arabinogalactan effects on reducing incidence of upper respiratory infections

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Pages 251-258 | Accepted 08 Jan 2013, Published online: 22 Jan 2013
 

Abstract

Objective:

Larch arabinogalactan (ResistAid) may prevent cold infections due to its immune-stimulatory properties. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trial, the effect of a proprietary larch arabinogalactan preparation on the incidences of common colds and its effect on cold symptoms, as a well established model for immune function, was compared to placebo.

Research design and methods:

A total of 199 healthy participants who had a self reported cold infection rate of three in 6 months were randomly assigned to receive a total of either 4.5 g of an arabinogalactan preparation (n = 101) or placebo (n = 98) over a period of 12 weeks.

Main outcome measures:

The participants documented each common cold episode in a diary, and rated 10 predefined infection symptoms on a 4 point rating scale during an infection period, resulting in an infection score. The common cold episodes were confirmed by medical doctors.

Clinical trial registration:

ISRCTN41183655.

Results:

In the full analysis set (FAS), arabinogalactan tended to decrease the incidence of common cold (p = 0.055). The number of participants affected by a cold was significantly reduced by arabinogalactan supplementation (p = 0.038). Concerning the per protocol (PP) collective, the incidences of common cold (p = 0.040) and the number of participants affected by the infection (p = 0.033) were significantly fewer after arabinogalactan compared to placebo consumption. The severity of symptoms at episode start as experienced by the participants was significantly higher after arabinogalactan supplementation (p = 0.028). The treatment was well tolerated with no significant differences between the study groups.

Conclusion:

The present study demonstrated that larch arabinogalactan increased the body’s potential to defend against common cold infection. While the immunomodulatory effect of arabinogalactan can be assumed, its mechanism of action remains to be elucidated.

Transparency

Declaration of funding

Lonza Ltd providing financial support for all aspects of this clinical study. The funders were involved in study design, manuscript writing, and made the decision to submit the paper for publication. Lonza Ltd had no role in data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

J.G. designed research; B.G. conducted research; L.R. and J.G. analyzed data; L.R. wrote the paper. L.R. had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

L.R., B.G. and J.G. are employed by a contract research organization that received funding from Lonza Ltd.

CMRO peer reviewers on this manuscript have received honoraria for their review work, but have no other relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Acknowledgments

We thank Norman Bitterlich PhD for his support in statistical analysis of the data. We thank the investigators R. Busch, C. Lauster, S. Beutner, H.-J. Kramm, J. Förstermann, and P. Sandow for their excellent work.

Previous presentation: Boehme L, Grube B, Gruenwald J, Freitas U. Role of ResistAidTM in reducing the occurrence of the common cold. Poster presented at World Immune regulation Meeting-VI, Davos, Switzerland, 18–21 March 2012. Boehme L, Grube B, Gruenwald J, Freitas U. Role of ResistAidTM in reducing the occurrence of the common cold. Talk and poster presentation at Vitafoods Europe, Geneva, Switzerland, 22–24 May 2012.

Notes

*ResistAid is a registered trade name of Lonza Ltd, Basel, Switzerland.

*ResistAid is a registered trade name of Lonza Ltd, Basel, Switzerland.

*Maltrin M100 is a registered trade name of the Grain Processing Corporation, Muscatine, Iowa, USA.

ResistAid is a registered trade name of Lonza Ltd, Basel, Switzerland.