In a recent study published in Scientific Reports , researchers investigated whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related sensory deficiencies are associated with transcriptome changes in the foliate papillae area of the tongue. Chemosensory impairment, a common symptom of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, occurs in mild-to-moderately symptomatic individuals. This damage endures beyond the initial phase of the pandemic, lowering infected patients' psychological health and quality of life.
Previous cross-sectional studies found non-significant associations between trigeminal or taste sensations and smell distortions among post-acute COVID-19 patients. The SeCoMRI trial reported high positive predictive values for loss of taste and smell among SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals, with seropositivity associated with increased symptomatology. In the present study, researchers expanded the SeCoMRI study to investigate the association between sensory perception changes after COVID-19 and foliate papillae transcriptomic alterations among seropositive individuals.
The study involved 158 Munich hospital employees with known SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) status who completed sensory perception questionnaires. The researchers matched the participants based on age, gender, and occupational SARS-CoV-2 exposure risk. They supplemented self-report questionnaires with objective taste assessments and transcriptomic microarray analyses of ribonucle.
