Temporary loss of smell, or anosmia, is the main neurological symptom and one of the earliest and most commonly reported indicators of COVID-19.
Studies suggest it better predicts the disease than other well-known symptoms such as fever and cough, but the underlying mechanisms for loss of smell in patients with COVID-19 have been unclear.
In a new study, researchers have identified the olfactory cell types most vulnerable to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Surprisingly, sensory neurons that detect and transmit the sense of smell to the brain are not among the vulnerable cell types.
The research was led by neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School.
A majority of COVID-19 patients experience some level of anosmia, most often temporary, according to emerging data.
Analyses of electronic health records show that COVID-19 patients are 27 times more likely to have smell loss but are only around 2.2 to 2.6 times more likely to have a fever, cough, or respiratory difficulty, compared to patients without COVID-19.
Some studies have hinted that anosmia in COVID-19 differs from anosmia caused by other viral infections, including by other coronaviruses.
In the study, the research team found that olfactory sensory neurons do not express the gene that encodes the ACE2 receptor protein, which SARS-CoV-2 uses to enter human cells.
Instead, ACE2 is expressed in cells that provide metabolic and structural support to olfactory sensory neurons, as well as certain populations of stem cells and blood vessel cells.
The findings suggest that infection of nonneuronal cell types may be responsible for anosmia in COVID-19 patients and help inform efforts to better understand the progression of the disease.
The findings indicate that the novel coronavirus changes the sense of smell in patients not by directly infecting neurons but by affecting the function of supporting cells.
This implies that in most cases, SARS-CoV-2 infection is unlikely to permanently damage olfactory neural circuits and lead to persistent anosmia, a condition linked to a variety of mental and social health issues, particularly depression and anxiety.
The team hopes the data can help pave inroads for questions on disease progression such as whether the nose acts as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2.
One author of the study is Sandeep Robert Datta, associate professor of neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS.
The study is published in Science Advances.
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