Mechanism of Anosmia Caused by Symptoms of COVID-19 and Emerging Treatments

Raziyeh Najafloo, Jila Majidi, Alimohamad Asghari, Mina Aleemardani, Seyed Kamran Kamrava, Sara Simorgh, Amelia Seifalian, Zohreh Bagher*, Alexander M Seifalian*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview article (Academic Journal)peer-review

70 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The occurrence of anosmia, the loss or change in sense of smell, is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19 experienced by almost 53% of those affected. Several hypotheses explain the mechanism of anosmia in patients suffering from COVID-19. This study aims to review the related mechanisms and answer the questions regarding COVID-19-related anosmia as well as propose a new strategy for treatment of long-term anosmia as a result of COVID-19 infection. This paper covers all of the studies investigating olfactory disorders following COVID-19 infection and explains the possible reasons for the correlated anosmia, including olfactory cleft syndrome, local inflammation in the nasal epithelium, early apoptosis of olfactory cells, changes in olfactory cilia and odor transmission, damage to microglial cells, effect on olfactory bulbs, epithelial olfactory injury, and impairment of olfactory neurons and stem cells. The key questions that arise in this field have been discussed, such as why prevalent anosmia is varied among the age categories and among sexes and the correlation of anosmia with mild or severe COVID-19 infection. The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor is a significant player in the mechanism of anosmia in COVID-19 patients. Based on current studies, a novel approach to treat long-COVID-19 with ongoing anosmia has been proposed. The fields of smart drug delivery, tissue engineering, and cell therapy provide a hypothesized strategy that can minimize the side effects of current treatments and support efficient recovery of the olfactory system.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3795–3805
Number of pages11
JournalACS Chemical Neuroscience
Volume12
Issue number20
Early online date5 Oct 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Oct 2021

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© 2021 American Chemical Society.

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