ArticleInternational journal of molecular sciences2026
Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis of Salivary Epithelial Cells Reveals Large-Scale Dysregulation in Bitter Taste Dysfunction.
Article in International journal of molecular sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Taste dysfunction, or dysgeusia, is a frequent symptom associated with infections and systemic diseases, yet its cellular and molecular basis remains poorly understood. The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to study dysgeusia as a "natural experiment" due to its high prevalence in those with acute and long COVID (LC). We investigated salivary epithelial cells (SECs) using single-cell RNA sequencing to elucidate molecular changes underlying taste dysfunction in LC. Functional enrichment analysis of SEC transcriptomes from individuals with bitter taste dysfunction (LC-D) revealed downregulation of genes involved in cytoskeletal dynamics and taste cell-nerve synapse assembly. Further, specific Type II and III taste receptor genes, critical for bitter taste perception, were reduced. Microbial defense markers such as Toll-like receptors TLR2 and TLR4 were also downregulated, suggesting chronic inflammation. These findings support a model of sustained dysregulated epithelial turnover due to impaired taste in LC-D. Saliva-based single-cell approaches offer promising tools for future diagnostics and mechanistic studies of taste systems.
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.