Why patients with COVID-19 lose their sense of smell
The back of the nose is rife with ACE2 receptors, researchers have found
US researchers might have finally sniffed out the explanation for the temporary loss of the sense of smell reported by patients with COVID-19.
Widespread reports of anosmia, especially in the absence of other nasal symptoms, has been a bit of a medical mystery for much of the pandemic.
But now, clinicians at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, say this symptom is linked to the high volume of ACE2 receptors on olfactory tissues at the back of the nose that detect smells.
This receptor, which is found in abundance in the lungs, heart and blood vessels, has already been identified by scientists as the ‘cellular doorway’ used by SARS-CoV-2 to infect cells.
