Anosmia in COVID-19: A Bumpy Road to Establishing a Cellular Mechanism.
ACS Chem Neurosci
; 11(15): 2152-2155, 2020 08 05.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-649950
ABSTRACT
It has become clear since the pandemic broke out that SARS-CoV-2 virus causes reduction of smell and taste in a significant fraction of COVID-19 patients. The olfactory dysfunction often occurs early in the course of the disease, and sometimes it is the only symptom in otherwise asymptomatic carriers. The cellular mechanisms for these specific olfactory disturbances in COVID-19 are now beginning to be elucidated. Several very recent papers contributed to explaining the key cellular steps occurring in the olfactory epithelium leading to anosmia/hyposmia (collectively known as dysosmia) initiated by SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this Viewpoint, we discuss current progress in research on olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 and we also propose an updated model of the SARS-CoV-2-induced dysosmia. The emerging central role of sustentacular cells and inflammatory processes in the olfactory epithelium are particularly considered. The proposed model of anosmia in COVID-19 does not answer unequivocally whether the new coronavirus exploits the olfactory route to rapidly or slowly reach the brain in COVID-19 patients. To answer this question, new systematic studies using an infectious virus and appropriate animal models are needed.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Olfactory Receptor Neurons
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Betacoronavirus
/
Olfaction Disorders
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
ACS Chem Neurosci
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Acschemneuro.0c00406
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