Therapy of allergic rhinitis using ribavirin spray to clear nasal commensal viruses

To elucidate the potential role of commensal viruses in the etiology of AR, we performed a metagenomic analysis of nasal mucosa to identify commensal viruses in the nose of mice. To evaluate the potential role of these commensal viruses in AR, we reduced them in the nose of mice by administrating intranasal drops of vehicle (Vehicle group) or broad-spectrum antiviral drug ribavirin daily, starting at 4-week-old and lasting for three weeks (Ribavirin group). These mice were also administrated with PBS, OVA, or HDM to induce AR. Overall design: Nasal mucosa was obtained from mice that were administered intranasal drops of either vehicle or ribavirin, together with PBS, OVA, or HDM. The nasal tissue samples were then subjected to metatranscriptomic sequencing to assess the abundance of viruses.