Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Università degli Studi di Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
Clinical Pathology Unit, AOU Policlinico Consorziale di Bari - Ospedale Giovanni XXIII, Bari, Italy.
Biomol Biomed. 2023 Mar 16;23(2):344-350. doi: 10.17305/bjbms.2022.6973.
A large percentage of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have taste dysfunction. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels in mild and moderate COVID-19 patients with the type (quantitative or qualitative) of taste disorders were compared in this observational study. The 208 COVID-19 patients (118 men and 90 women) revealing only taste dysfunctions as prodromic symptoms were classified as mild and moderate patients. Survey results were used to evaluate the taste disorder. The IL-6 levels were measured using a chemiluminescence assay. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Wilcoxon rank, Welch's, and Mann-Whitney tests. The findings revealed that neither the presence of dysgeusia or phantogeusia nor the perception of sour and salty, differed statistically significantly between moderate and mild patients (P > 0.05). But between moderate and mild patients, there were statistically significant differences in how umami, bitter, sweet, and parageusia were perceived (P < 0.05). There was an impairment of multiple tastes up to ageusia in patients with high IL-6 levels. The findings demonstrated that parageusia and dysfunctions in umami, bitter, and sweet taste perception can be indicators of more severe forms of COVID-19.
很大比例的 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）患者存在味觉障碍。在这项观察性研究中，比较了轻度和中度 COVID-19 患者中出现味觉障碍（定量或定性）的白细胞介素 6（IL-6）水平。208 名 COVID-19 患者（118 名男性和 90 名女性）仅出现味觉障碍作为前驱症状，被分类为轻度和中度患者。使用问卷调查结果评估味觉障碍。使用化学发光法测量 IL-6 水平。使用 Wilcoxon 秩和检验、Welch 检验和 Mann-Whitney 检验进行统计分析。结果表明，味觉障碍和幻味觉的存在以及对酸和咸的感知在中度和轻度患者之间无统计学差异（P > 0.05）。但在中度和轻度患者之间，鲜味、苦味、甜味和味觉异常的感知存在统计学显著差异（P < 0.05）。在高 IL-6 水平的患者中，存在多种味觉直至味盲的损害。研究结果表明，味觉异常和鲜味、苦味和甜味感知障碍可能是 COVID-19 更严重形式的指标。
