Chemosensory Dysfunction in Patients with COVID-19: What Do We Learn from the Global Outbreak?

Impact of Nutritional Status on COVID-19-Induced Olfactory Dysfunction

OBJECTIVE

Although olfactory dysfunction is one of the most common presenting signs of COVID-19 infection, little is known about which populations are most susceptible. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risk of COVID-19-induced chemosensory dysfunction in malnourished individuals.

METHODS

The N3C database was queried for adults having positive COVID-19 test result, diagnosis of chemosensory dysfunction within 2 weeks of positive test date, and overnutrition or undernutrition (i.e., deficiency or excess of micro- and macronutrients) related diagnoses prior to COVID-19 infection. Individuals previously diagnosed with chemosensory dysfunction were excluded. COVID-19-positive adults without olfactory dysfunction were similarly analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using odds ratio calculations (95% confidence interval [CI]).

RESULTS

Of 3,971,536 patients with COVID-19, 73,211 adults were identified with a diagnosis of undernutrition and 428,747 adults were identified with a diagnosis of overnutrition prior to infection. Of those with undernutrition, 264 (0.36%) individuals were identified with a diagnosis of olfactory dysfunction within 2 weeks of infection. Of those with overnutrition, 2851 (0.66%) individuals were identified with a diagnosis of olfactory dysfunction within 2 weeks of infection. The calculated odds ratio for undernutrition and olfactory dysfunction was 0.731 (p < 0.0001, 95% CI [0.0647, 0.0825]). The calculated odds ratio for overnutrition and olfactory dysfunction was 1.419 (p < 0.0001, 95% CI [1.3359, 1.5081]).

CONCLUSION

Overnutrition may increase the risk of COVID-19-related olfactory dysfunction, while undernutrition may slightly protect. While reasons are unclear, baseline differences in metabolic, inflammatory, and structural biochemistry deserve closer inspection.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

3 Laryngoscope, 134:4338-4343, 2024.

Long-term Consequences of COVID-19: Chemosensory Disorders

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

A number of sequelae after acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly affect the quality of life of patients. The chemosensory disorders including olfactory dysfunction (OD) and gustatory dysfunction (GD) are two of the commonest symptoms complained by patients with COVID-19. Although chemosensory function has been reported improved in over 60% of COVID-19 patients in a short time after acute infection, it may last as a major symptom for patients with long COVID-19. This narrative review discussed current literatures on OD and GD in long COVID-19 including the prevalence, risk factors, possible mechanisms, and potential therapies.

RECENT FINDINGS

Although the prevalence of OD and GD has declined continuously after acute COVID-19, a considerable number of patients had persistent chemosensory disorders 3 months to 2 years after symptom onset. Female gender, initial severity of dysfunction, nasal congestion, emotional distress and depression, and SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified as risk factors for persistent OD and GD in long COVID-19. The pathogenesis of OD and GD in long COVID-19 remains unknown, but may be analogous to the persistent OD and GD post common respiratory viral infection. Corticosteroids and olfactory training might be a potential choice regarding the treatment of lasting OD and GD after SARS-CoV-2 infection; however, more studies are needed to prove it. OD and GD are common long-term consequences of COVID-19 and influenced by gender, initial severity of dysfunction, emotional distress and depression, and SARS-CoV-2 variants. More studies are needed to illustrate their pathogenesis and to establish therapeutic strategies.

In Silico Discovery of GPCRs and GnRHRs as Novel Binding Receptors of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Could Explain Neuroendocrine Disorders in COVID-19

Despite the intense research work since the beginning of the pandemic, the pathogenesis of COVID-19 is not yet clearly understood. The previous mechanism of COVID-19, based on ACE2 tropism and explained through a single receptor, is insufficient to explain the pathogenesis due to the absence of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in most of the affected organs. In the current study, we used the PatchDock server to run a molecular docking study of both the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR) and G-protein-coupled-receptor (GPCR) with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations were run to analyze the stability of the complexes using the GROMACS package. The docking results showed a high affinity between the spike protein with the GnRHR (-1424.9 kcal/mol) and GPCR (-1451.8 kcal/mol). The results of the MD simulations revealed the significant stability of the spike protein with the GnRHR and GPCR up to 100 ns. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein had strong binding interactions with the GPCRs and GnRHRs, which are highly expressed in the brain, endocrine organs, and olfactory neurons. This study paves the way towards understanding the complex mechanism of neuroendocrine involvement and peripheral organ involvement, may explain the changing symptoms in patients due to new variants, and may lead to the discovery of new drug targets for COVID-19. In vitro studies involving genetic engineering or gene knockdown of the GPCRs and GnRHRs are needed to further investigate the role of these receptors in COVID-19 pathogenesis.

Prognosis and persistence of smell and taste dysfunction in patients with covid-19: meta-analysis with parametric cure modelling of recovery curves

OBJECTIVE

To clarify in patients with covid-19 the recovery rate of smell and taste, proportion with persistent dysfunction of smell and taste, and prognostic factors associated with recovery of smell and taste.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and medRxiv from inception to 3 October 2021.

REVIEW METHODS

Two blinded reviewers selected observational studies of adults (≥18 years) with covid-19 related dysfunction of smell or taste. Descriptive prognosis studies with time-to-event curves and prognostic association studies of any prognostic factor were included.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Two reviewers extracted data, evaluated study bias using QUIPS, and appraised evidence quality using GRADE, following PRISMA and MOOSE reporting guidelines. Using iterative numerical algorithms, time-to-event individual patient data (IPD) were reconstructed and pooled to retrieve distribution-free summary survival curves, with recovery rates reported at 30 day intervals for participants who remained alive. To estimate the proportion with persistent smell and taste dysfunction, cure fractions from Weibull non-mixture cure models of plateaued survival curves were logit transformed and pooled in a two stage meta-analysis. Conventional aggregate data meta-analysis was performed to explore unadjusted associations of prognostic factors with recovery.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The primary outcomes were the proportions of patients remaining with smell or taste dysfunction. Secondary outcomes were the odds ratios of prognostic variables associated with recovery of smell and taste.

RESULTS

18 studies (3699 patients) from 4180 records were included in reconstructed IPD meta-analyses. Risk of bias was low to moderate; conclusions remained unaltered after exclusion of four high risk studies. Evidence quality was moderate to high. Based on parametric cure modelling, persistent self-reported smell and taste dysfunction could develop in an estimated 5.6% (95% confidence interval 2.7% to 11.0%, I2=70%, τ2=0.756, 95% prediction interval 0.7% to 33.5%) and 4.4% (1.2% to 14.6%, I2=67%, τ2=0.684, 95% prediction interval 0.0% to 49.0%) of patients, respectively. Sensitivity analyses suggest these could be underestimates. At 30, 60, 90, and 180 days, respectively, 74.1% (95% confidence interval 64.0% to 81.3%), 85.8% (77.6% to 90.9%), 90.0% (83.3% to 94.0%), and 95.7% (89.5% to 98.3%) of patients recovered their sense of smell (I2=0.0-77.2%, τ2=0.006-0.050) and 78.8% (70.5% to 84.7%), 87.7% (82.0% to 91.6%), 90.3% (83.5% to 94.3%), and 98.0% (92.2% to 95.5%) recovered their sense of taste (range of I2=0.0-72.1%, τ2=0.000-0.015). Women were less likely to recover their sense of smell (odds ratio 0.52, 95% confidence interval 0.37 to 0.72, seven studies, I2=20%, τ2=0.0224) and taste (0.31, 0.13 to 0.72, seven studies, I2=78%, τ2=0.5121) than men, and patients with greater initial severity of dysfunction (0.48, 0.31 to 0.73, five studies, I2=10%, τ2<0.001) or nasal congestion (0.42, 0.18 to 0.97, three studies, I2=0%, τ2<0.001) were less likely to recover their sense of smell.

CONCLUSIONS

A substantial proportion of patients with covid-19 might develop long lasting change in their sense of smell or taste. This could contribute to the growing burden of long covid.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42021283922.

Chronic Rhinosinusitis With Nasal Polyps: Quality of Life in the Biologics Era

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) affects up to 12% of the general population and is traditionally divided into two main phenotypic subsets, based on the presence of nasal polyps (CRSwNP) or their absence. It is well-established that many patients with CRSwNP report poor quality of life (QoL), which is further compromised by comorbidities (eg, asthma, bronchiectasis, aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease). Chronic rhinosinusitis CRS with nasal polyps is managed with a combination of medical therapy and surgical interventions, and biologics are emerging as a promising new treatment option for patients with inadequate response to the standard of care. A range of patient-reported outcome measures have been used to assess QoL for patients with CRSwNP in clinical trials, including disease-specific questionnaires (eg, Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22) and generic ones (eg, Short Form-36). Significantly impaired QoL has been identified as a criterion for the indication to use biologics in patients with CRSwNP. This review summarizes clinical evidence (2010-2021) on QoL outcomes with currently available treatments for CRSwNP and assesses the improvement in QoL after biologic treatments, especially for patients with comorbidities reported in interventional studies (randomized controlled trials and real-world experience).

Testing for anosmia and ageusia in patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 in Saudi Arabia

Objective

This study investigated the role of objective olfactory dysfunction (OD) and gustatory dysfunction (GD) testing among patients with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who presented with respiratory symptoms.

Methods

A prospective, blinded, observational study was conducted in the emergency units of two tertiary hospitals. Participants were asked to identify scents in the pocket smell test (PST) and flavors in four different solutions in the gustatory dysfunction test (GDT). We assessed the level of agreement between objective findings and self-reported symptoms. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of chemosensory dysfunction for diagnosing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Results

Of 250 participants, 74 (29.6%) were SARS-CoV-2-positive. There was slight agreement between self-reported symptoms and objective findings (kappa = 0.13 and 0.10 for OD and GD, respectively). OD assessed by the PST was independently associated with COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio = 1.89, 95% confidence interval, 1.04–3.46). This association was stronger when OD was combined with objective GD, cough, and fever (adjusted odds ratio = 7.33, 95% confidence interval, 1.17–45.84).

Conclusions

Neither the PST nor GDT alone are useful screening tools for COVID-19. However, a diagnostic scale based on objective OD, GD, fever, and cough may help triage patients with suspected COVID-19.

Neurological toll of COVID-19

The first case of coronavirus illness was discovered in Wuhan, China, in January 2020 and quickly spread worldwide within the next couple of months. The condition was initially only linked with respiratory disorders. After the evolution of various variants of the SARS-CoV-2, the critical impact of the virus spread to multiple organs and soon, neurological disorder manifestations started to appear in the infected patients. The review is focused on the manifestation of various neurological disorders linked with both the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. Disorders such as cytokine release syndrome, encephalitis, acute stroke, and Bell's palsy are given specific attention and psychological manifestations are also investigated. For a clear conclusion, cognitive impairment, drug addiction disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder are all fully examined. The association of the SARS-CoV-2 with neurological disorders and pathway is yet to be clear. For better understanding, the explanation of the possible mechanism of viral infection influencing the nervous system is also attempted in the review. While several vaccines and drugs are already involved in treating the SARS-CoV-2 condition, the disease is still considered fatal and more likely to leave permanent neurological damage, which leads to an essential requirement for more research to explore the neurological toll of the COVID-19 disease.

The D614G Virus Mutation Enhances Anosmia in COVID-19 Patients: Evidence from a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Studies from South Asia

The prevalence of chemosensory dysfunction in patients with COVID-19 varies greatly between populations. It is unclear whether such differences are due to factors at the level of the human host, or at the level of the coronavirus, or both. At the host level, the entry proteins which allow virus binding and entry have variants with distinct properties, and the frequency of such variants differs between ethnicities. At the level of the virus, the D614G mutation enhances virus entry to the host cell. Since the two virus strains (D614 and G614) coexisted in the first six months of the pandemic in most populations, it has been difficult to distinguish between contributions of the virus and contributions of the host for anosmia. To answer this question, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies in South Asian populations when either the D614 or the G614 virus was dominant. We show that populations infected predominantly with the G614 virus had a much higher prevalence of anosmia (pooled prevalence of 31.8%) compared with the same ethnic populations infected mostly with the D614 virus strain (pooled anosmia prevalence of 5.3%). We conclude that the D614G mutation is a major contributing factor that increases the prevalence of anosmia in COVID-19, and that this enhanced effect on olfaction constitutes a previously unrecognized phenotype of the D614G mutation. The new virus strains that have additional mutations on the background of the D614G mutation can be expected to cause a similarly increased prevalence of chemosensory dysfunctions.

New Brazilian variant of the SARS-CoV-2 (P1/Gamma) of COVID-19 in Alagoas state

Since the beginning of 2020, health authorities have been monitoring the cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has grown every day in Brazil and around the world, becoming pandemic. The new coronavirus, also called SARS-CoV-2 by scientists spreads rapidly, causing fear, deaths, and threats for the economy of several countries. This work aimed to describe the clinical characterization of the first cases of a new Brazilian variant of SARS-CoV-2 (P1) in the State of Alagoas, which occurred on February 16th, 2021. Two cases are described: first, a person infected in Amazonas State, where the new variant P1 was first described, who migrated to Alagoas State, and second, a case of probable community transmission within Alagoas, since the patient had no history of recent travel. In both confirmed cases the symptoms were mild. Further studies are necessary to better understand the clinical behavior of P1 SARS-CoV-2 variant and also the associated sequelae in the context of COVID-19.