In a new study, researchers found depressed mood or anxiety exhibited in COVID-19 patients may possibly be a sign the virus affects the central nervous system.
These two psychological symptoms were most closely linked to a loss of smell and taste rather than the more severe indicators of the novel coronavirus such as shortness of breath, cough, or fever.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Cincinnati.
In the study, the team examined the characteristics and symptoms of 114 patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 over a six-week period.
The severity of the loss of smell or taste, nasal obstruction, excessive mucus production, fever, cough and shortness of breath during COVID-19 were assessed.
At the time of enrollment in the study, when participants were experiencing COVID-19, 47.4% of participants reported at least several days of depressed mood per week while 21.1% reported depressed mood nearly every day.
In terms of severity, 44.7% of participants reported expressing mild anxiety while 10.5% reported severe anxiety.
The team found the only element of COVID-19 that was associated with depressed mood and anxiety was the severity of patients’ loss of smell and taste.
Researchers have long thought that the olfactory tract may be the primary way that coronaviruses enter the central nervous system.
There was evidence of this with SARS. Studies using mouse models of that virus have shown that the olfactory tract, or the pathway for communication of odors from the nose to the brain, was a gateway into the central nervous system and infection of the brain.
The team says it is possible that psychological distress in the form of depressed mood or anxiety may reflect the penetration of COVID-19 virus into the central nervous system.
It is possible that the virus is infecting olfactory neurons, decreasing the sense of smell, and then using the olfactory tract to enter the central nervous symptom.
Infrequent but severe central nervous system symptoms of COVID-19 such as seizures or altered mental status have been described, but depressed mood and anxiety may be the considerably more common but milder central nervous symptom of COVID-19.
One author of the study is Ahmad Sedaghat, MD, Ph.D., an associate professor and director of rhinology, allergy, and anterior skull base surgery.
The study is published in The Laryngoscope.
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