Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36675526›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2023

Loss of Sour Taste Is the Striking Feature among Four Basic Taste Qualities in Tunisian COVID-19 Patients.

Inchirah Karmous, Amira Sayed Khan, Imen Sahnoun, Rym Ben Othman, Houda Ben Jemaa, Faten Mahjoub, Amel Gamoudi, Leila Douik El Gharbi, Tahar Mestiri, Naim Akhtar Khan and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Taste dysfunction in Long COVID.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Inchirah KarmousResearch Unit on Obesity UR18ES01, Faculty of Medicine, University Tunis El Manar, 15 Rue Jebel Lakhdar, Beb Saadoun, Tunis 1007, Tunisia.ORCID 0000-0001-8728-6862
Amira Sayed KhanCentre de Recherche Inserm, U1231 INSERM/UB/Institut Agro, Team-Physiologie de la Nutrition & Toxicologie, Faculté des Sciences de la Vie, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté (UBFC), 21000 Dijon, France.
Imen SahnounDepartment of Pulmonology "D", Abderrahmen Mami Hospital, Ariana 2035, Tunisia.
Rym Ben OthmanResearch Unit on Obesity UR18ES01, Faculty of Medicine, University Tunis El Manar, 15 Rue Jebel Lakhdar, Beb Saadoun, Tunis 1007, Tunisia.ORCID 0000-0002-2453-9778
Houda Ben JemaaResearch Unit on Obesity UR18ES01, Faculty of Medicine, University Tunis El Manar, 15 Rue Jebel Lakhdar, Beb Saadoun, Tunis 1007, Tunisia.ORCID 0000-0003-1607-7697
Faten MahjoubService «A» des Maladies de la Nutrition, Institut National «Zouhaier Kallel» de Nutrition et de Technologie Alimentaire de Tunis, 11 Rue Jebel Lakhdar, Beb Saadoun, Tunis 1007, Tunisia.
Amel GamoudiResearch Unit on Obesity UR18ES01, Faculty of Medicine, University Tunis El Manar, 15 Rue Jebel Lakhdar, Beb Saadoun, Tunis 1007, Tunisia.
Leila Douik El GharbiDepartment of Pulmonology "D", Abderrahmen Mami Hospital, Ariana 2035, Tunisia.
Tahar MestiriService Anésthesie Réanimation, Hôpital Abderrahmen Mami, Ariana 2035, Tunisia.
Naim Akhtar KhanCentre de Recherche Inserm, U1231 INSERM/UB/Institut Agro, Team-Physiologie de la Nutrition & Toxicologie, Faculté des Sciences de la Vie, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté (UBFC), 21000 Dijon, France.ORCID 0000-0002-8930-9332
Henda JamoussiResearch Unit on Obesity UR18ES01, Faculty of Medicine, University Tunis El Manar, 15 Rue Jebel Lakhdar, Beb Saadoun, Tunis 1007, Tunisia.ORCID 0000-0002-8215-3718

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTaste disorders (TDs) have been reported to be very common in patients suffering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In most of the hitherto conducted studies, a gustatory assessment was performed on the basis of surveys or self-reports by patients. The aim of our study was to undertake an objective assessment of four basic taste qualities by conducting tasting sessions that allowed detection thresholds in COVID-19 Tunisian patients and to study their associations with inflammation.

methodsThis analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 89 patients aged between 21 to 70 years who had been diagnosed with COVID-19. We used Burghart taste strips to assess taste perception of the four taste qualities, i.e., sour, bitter, sweet, and salty. Serum levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured.

resultsTaste disorders were reported by 40.4% of the patients, while objective assessments revealed that 63.8% of participants were suffering from hypogeusia and/or ageusia. Sour taste was the most altered (70.8%) gustatory quality. Patients with severe COVID-19 had significantly lower sour and bitter taste scores when compared to patients with minor/moderate forms. There was no significant association between serum inflammatory markers and taste disorders. However, the relationship between bitter and sweet taste qualities and IL-1β levels was significant (

conclusionsOur results demonstrate the interest in the objective assessment of taste dysfunctions in COVID-19 patients.

Indexed as

COVID-19inflammationobjective gustatory perceptiontaste disorders

Identifiers

PMID36675526
PMCPMC9865029

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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.