ArticleMedical hypotheses2020
Is anosmia the price to pay in an immune-induced scorched-earth policy against COVID-19?
Article in Medical hypotheses, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review on Neurological Aspects of COVID-19: Exploring the Relationship Between COVID-19-Related Olfactory Dysfunction and Neuroinvasion.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids as Potential Treatments for COVID-19-Induced Anosmia.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- The immune mechanism of the nasal epithelium in COVID-19-related olfactory dysfunction.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19: new insights into the underlying mechanisms.Trends in neurosciences · 2023Review
- Neutrophils play a major role in the destruction of the olfactory epithelium during SARS-CoV-2 infection in hamsters.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2022Article
- Molecular mechanisms involved in anosmia induced by SARS-CoV-2, with a focus on the transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS2.Archives of virology · 2022Review
- The association of airborne particulate matter and benzo[a]pyrene with the clinical course of COVID-19 in patients hospitalized in Poland.Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2022Article
- International consensus statement on allergy and rhinology: Olfaction.International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2022Review
- Correlations between IL-6 serum level and olfactory dysfunction severity in COVID-19 patients: a preliminary study.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2022Article
- The Effects of Persistent Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunctions on Quality of Life in Long-COVID-19 Patients.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Secretory phospholipase A2 in SARS-CoV-2 infection and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2021Observational
- Modulation of olfactory signal detection in the olfactory epithelium: focus on the internal and external environment, and the emerging role of the immune system.Cell and tissue research · 2021Review
- Six-month smell and taste recovery rates in coronavirus disease 2019 patients: a prospective psychophysical study.The Journal of laryngology and otology · 2021Article
- Neurological manifestations of COVID-19: with emphasis on Iranian patients.Journal of neurovirology · 2021Review
- Psychophysical Evaluation of the Olfactory Function: European Multicenter Study on 774 COVID-19 Patients.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- More that ACE2? NRP1 may play a central role in the underlying pathophysiological mechanism of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 and its association with enhanced survival.Medical hypotheses · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Since the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), loss of smell has increasingly been reported as a frequent clinical sign. Understanding the underlying mechanism and the prognostic value of this symptom will help better manage patients. SARS-CoV-2, as SARS-CoV-1, may likely spread to the central nervous system (CNS) via the olfactory nerve, a known gateway for respiratory neurotropic viruses. We hypothesise that sudden loss of smell due to COVID-19 is the consequence of a protective host defence mechanism involving apoptosis of olfactory receptor neurons. Sacrificing smelling over neuroprotection is a logical strategy, even more so as olfaction is the only sense with the ability to regenerate in adults. Induced apoptosis of olfactory neurons has been shown in mice, successfully preventing neuroinvasion. On the other hand, adult olfactory neurogenesis has been shown to be regulated in part by the immune system, allowing to restore olfactory function. Understanding anosmia as part of a defence mechanism would support the concept of sudden anosmia as being a positive prognostic factor in the short term. Also, it may orient research to investigate the risk of future neurodegenerative disease linked to persisting coronavirus in neurons.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.