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Ma Y, Zhu T, Yang P, Gao R, Shen L, Gao P, Gao J, Liu X, Jiang H, Zhang X. The neurological decline and psychological factors caused by coronavirus disease 2019 may be predictors of erectile dysfunction. Andrology 2024. [PMID: 38436126 DOI: 10.1111/andr.13613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019, it has had a serious impact on people's physical and mental health. However, in our clinical work, we have found that the erectile function of coronavirus disease 2019 patients with neurological decline was often seriously affected. OBJECTIVES To further explore the relationship between erectile dysfunction and neurological dysfunction caused by coronavirus disease 2019. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted a survey from August 2022 to February 2023 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University and the Third People's Hospital of Linyi City. A total of 251 subjects with a history of coronavirus disease 2019 infection were included. Symptoms and changes in erectile function after the coronavirus disease 2019 infection were collected and assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function-5 scale and several targeted questions. RESULTS In this study, we found that in patients infected with novel coronavirus, the proportion of erectile dysfunction was higher in those with neurological manifestations such as olfactory and taste impairment or psychological symptoms such as anxiety. DISCUSSION We found that neurological decline and psychological factors were independent and significant risk factors for erectile dysfunction caused by coronavirus disease 2019. CONCLUSION Patients with neurological damage or psychiatric symptoms are more likely to have erectile dysfunction, suggesting that the 2019 novel coronavirus may affect erectile function by damaging nerves. This provides a new insight into the mechanism of erectile dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yukuai Ma
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Tianle Zhu
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Peng Yang
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Rui Gao
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Lanhui Shen
- Department of Urology, the Third People's Hospital of Linyi, Linyi, China
| | - Pan Gao
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Jingjing Gao
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Xi Liu
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Hui Jiang
- Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital Institute of Urology, Peking University Andrology Center, Peking University First Hospital, Hefei, China
| | - Xiansheng Zhang
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
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Martončíková M, Doležal P, Fabianová K, Karhánek M, Gálik J, Raček A, Popovičová A, Račeková E. Remote psychophysical testing of smell in patients with persistent olfactory dysfunction after COVID-19. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14090. [PMID: 37640847 PMCID: PMC10462624 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41395-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Olfactory dysfunction associated with coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is in most cases transient, recovering spontaneously within a few days. However, in some patients it persists for a long time, affects their everyday life and endangers their health. Hence, we focused on patients with persistent loss of smell. The aim of this study was to evaluate olfactory dysfunction using a standardized test. Due to the pandemic, olfactory testing was performed online. Smell tests (Odorized Markers Test, OMT) were sent home to the patients. Together with the smell self-testing, participants reported and assessed several parameters (age, sex, subjective assessment of smell and taste, nasal patency, etc.) in an online questionnaire. Based on the questionnaire outcomes, the results were sent to the patients along with a list of participating otolaryngologists who provided them with professional care. From March to June 2021, 1025 patients requested smell testing, of these, 824 met the inclusion criteria of this study. The duration of the olfactory dysfunction at the time of testing ranged from 1 month to 1 year. Using the OMT, impaired smell ability-anosmia or hyposmia-was confirmed in 82.6% of participants. A total of 17.4% of participants were determined to be normosmic however, more than 50% of them complained of parosmia and/or phantosmia. Our study demonstrates the relevance of psychophysical smell testing and its suitability for remote use during the pandemic. This study also revealed several correlations between prolonged olfactory dysfunction and the monitored parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcela Martončíková
- Institute of Neurobiology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia
| | - Pavel Doležal
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital-St. Michal's Hospital, Slovak Medical University, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Kamila Fabianová
- Institute of Neurobiology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia
| | - Miloslav Karhánek
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská Cesta 9, 845 05, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Ján Gálik
- Institute of Neurobiology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia
| | - Adam Raček
- Institute of Neurobiology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia
| | - Alexandra Popovičová
- Institute of Neurobiology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia
| | - Enikő Račeková
- Institute of Neurobiology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia.
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Mahajan S, Sen D, Sunil A, Srikanth P, Marathe SD, Shaw K, Sahare M, Galande S, Abraham NM. Knockout of angiotensin converting enzyme-2 receptor leads to morphological aberrations in rodent olfactory centers and dysfunctions associated with sense of smell. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1180868. [PMID: 37404465 PMCID: PMC10315482 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1180868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuronal morphological characterization and behavioral phenotyping in mouse models help dissecting neural mechanisms of brain disorders. Olfactory dysfunctions and other cognitive problems were widely reported in asymptomatic carriers and symptomatic patients infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). This led us to generate the knockout mouse model for Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor, one of the molecular factors mediating SARS-CoV-2 entry to the central nervous system, using CRISPR-Cas9 based genome editing tools. ACE2 receptors and Transmembrane Serine Protease-2 (TMPRSS2) are widely expressed in the supporting (sustentacular) cells of human and rodent olfactory epithelium, however, not in the olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs). Hence, acute inflammation induced changes due to viral infection in the olfactory epithelium may explain transient changes in olfactory detectabilities. As ACE2 receptors are expressed in different olfactory centers and higher brain areas, we studied the morphological changes in the olfactory epithelium (OE) and olfactory bulb (OB) of ACE2 KO mice in comparison with wild type animals. Our results showed reduced thickness of OSN layer in the OE, and a decrease in cross-sectional area of glomeruli in the OB. Aberrations in the olfactory circuits were revealed by lowered immunoreactivity toward microtubule associated protein 2 (MAP2) in the glomerular layer of ACE2 KO mice. Further, to understand if these morphological alterations lead to compromised sensory and cognitive abilities, we performed an array of behavioral assays probing their olfactory subsystems' performances. ACE2 KO mice exhibited slower learning of odor discriminations at the threshold levels and novel odor identification impairments. Further, ACE2 KO mice failed to memorize the pheromonal locations while trained on a multimodal task implying the aberrations of neural circuits involved in higher cognitive functions. Our results thus provide the morphological basis for the sensory and cognitive disabilities caused by the deletion of ACE2 receptors and offer a potential experimental approach to study the neural circuit mechanisms of cognitive impairments observed in long COVID.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarang Mahajan
- Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behaviour (LNCB), Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Deepshikha Sen
- Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behaviour (LNCB), Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Anantu Sunil
- Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behaviour (LNCB), Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | - Priyadharshini Srikanth
- Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behaviour (LNCB), Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Shruti D. Marathe
- Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behaviour (LNCB), Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Karishma Shaw
- Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behaviour (LNCB), Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Mahesh Sahare
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Sanjeev Galande
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics, Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Center of Excellence in Epigenetics, Department of Life Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR, India
| | - Nixon M. Abraham
- Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behaviour (LNCB), Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
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