Department of Otolaryngology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States.
Department of Otolaryngology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
ACS Chem Neurosci. 2021 Feb 17;12(4):589-595. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00649. Epub 2021 Feb 1.
Olfactory dysfunction is one of the most frequent and specific symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Information on the damage and repair of the neuroepithelium and its impact on olfactory function after COVID-19 is still incomplete. While severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes the ongoing worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, little is known about the changes triggered by SARS-CoV-2 in the olfactory epithelium (OE) at the cellular level. Here, we report profiles of the OE after SARS-CoV-2 infection in golden Syrian hamsters, which is a reliable animal model of COVID-19. We observed severe damage in the OE as early as 3 days postinoculation and regionally specific damage and regeneration of the OE within the nasal cavity; the nasal septal region demonstrated the fastest recovery compared to other regions in the nasal turbinates. These findings suggest that anosmia related to SARS-CoV-2 infection may be fully reversible.
嗅觉功能障碍是 2019 冠状病毒病(COVID-19)最常见和最具特异性的症状之一。有关 COVID-19 后神经上皮损伤和修复及其对嗅觉功能影响的信息尚不完全。虽然严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2(SARS-CoV-2)导致了目前正在全球范围内爆发的 COVID-19,但人们对 SARS-CoV-2 在嗅觉上皮(OE)细胞水平上引发的变化知之甚少。在这里,我们报告了金黄地鼠感染 SARS-CoV-2 后 OE 的情况,金黄地鼠是 COVID-19 的可靠动物模型。我们观察到早在接种后 3 天,OE 就受到严重损伤,鼻腔内 OE 出现区域特异性损伤和再生;与鼻甲的其他区域相比,鼻中隔区域的恢复最快。这些发现表明,与 SARS-CoV-2 感染相关的嗅觉丧失可能是完全可逆的。