title: Immune-modulating efficacy of a polyphenol-rich beverage on symptoms associated with the common cold: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, multi-centric clinical study.
abstract: In the present study, the immune-modulating efficacy of a polyphenol-rich beverage on symptoms associated with the common cold was evaluated. For this purpose, ninety-eight patients reporting common cold symptoms that began no longer than 24 h before the study intervention were randomly assigned to consume either the test beverage or placebo twice per d for 10 d. The severity of the disease was expressed as the total score of the five cold symptoms 'general feeling of sickness', 'headache and/or joint aches', 'sore throat and/or difficulty swallowing', 'hoarseness and/or cough' and 'stuffy nose/sniffle'. Consequently, the decrease from 10.2 (sd 3.1) points at the beginning to 2.1 (sd 2.7) points by the end of the study in the verum group demonstrated a clear improvement, whereas in the placebo group only a reduction from 10.5 (sd 3.0) to 6.3 (sd 3.8) points could be observed. The mean difference between the groups (primary efficacy criterion) of 3.9 points was highly significant (P < 0.01). At the end of the study there were highly significantly (P < 0.01) more patients in the verum group complaint free than in the placebo group (secondary efficacy criterion). In addition to these self-reported values, several local findings of the physical examination were also significantly improved in the verum group.
authors.affiliation: Rudolf Wild GmbH & Co. KG, Rudolf-Wild-Straße 107-115, 69214 Eppelheim, Germany. katrin.schuetz@wild.de
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schütz
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sass
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de With
authors.forename: Hans-Joachim
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Graubaum
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grünwald
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001628:Beverages / Q000032:analysis*; D003139:Common Cold / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D059808:Polyphenols; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; D010636:Phenols; D059808:Polyphenols