Science: Loss of smell in Long Covid-19 is attributed to autoimmune destruction of cells in the nose

The reason that in some people not fully restored their sense of smell, even though some time has passed since the initial Covid-19 infection, is an ongoing autoimmune reaction of their body’s immune system, which attacks the olfactory nerve cells in the nose, resulting in a reduction in their number and eventually the impossibility of restoring it sense of smell.

This was announced by scientists from the American universities of Duke, Harvard and California-San Diego, led by associate professor Bradley Goldstein of the Duke Medical Center in North Carolina, who analyzed biopsy samples from the epithelium of the nose 24 patients and made the relevant publication in the medical journal “Science Translational Medicine”.

The study sheds light on a problem afflicting millions of people (at least 5% of total Covid-19 patients), who – after falling ill due to the coronavirus – have not yet recovered their normal sense of smell. The research, while focusing on olfaction, also sheds more light on possible underlying causes for other long-term symptoms of Covid-19, such as generalized fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog, etc., possibly triggered by similar autoimmune biological mechanisms.

“Many people who have an altered sense of smell during the acute phase of the virus infection will regain their sense of smell within one to two weeks, but some will not. There is a need to better understand this subgroup of people who continue to have persistent loss of smell for months or even years after being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. “Our findings are striking, as they look like a kind of autoimmune reaction in the nose itself,” said Dr. Goldstein.

However, the researchers called it encouraging that, despite the damage to the olfactory neurons, at least some of them seem to retain partially the ability to gradually restore their function. Scientists also hope that, now that they have shed light on the biological mechanism of the damage, they will find new treatments for the problem so that they can restore at least some sense of smell.

RES-EMP

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