Two-Year Follow-Up on Chemosensory Dysfunction and Adaptive Immune Response after Infection with SARS-CoV-2 in a Cohort of 44 Healthcare Workers

Schambeck, Sophia; Mateyka, Laura M.; Burrell, Teresa; Graf, Natalia; Brill, I. T.; Stark, Thomas; Protzer, Ulrike; Busch, Dirk H.; Gerhard, Markus; Riehl, Henriette; Poppert, Holger

doi:10.3390/life12101556

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…30,31 In line with what observed in the present investigation, four independent studies reported the prevalence and recovery rate of self-reported chemosensory dysfunction 2 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection with figures ranging from 8% to 30%, and from 60% to 87%, respectively. [32][33][34][35] However, only one study has evaluated the prevalence of OD 2 years after infection by means of psychophysical evaluation, observing a persistent smell dysfunction in 3% of cases. 33 This much lower rate of OD compared to that observed in the present study may at least in part be due to the fact that only an orthonasal odor identification test was performed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychophysical assessment of olfactory and gustatory function in post‐mild COVID‐19 patients: A matched case‐control study with 2‐year follow‐up

Boscolo‐Rizzo

Hummel

Invitto

et al. 2023

Int Forum Allergy Rhinol

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BackgroundThe aim of this study was to psychophysically evaluate the prevalence of smell and taste dysfunction 2 years after mildly symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection compared to that observed at 1‐year follow‐up and while considering the background of chemosensory dysfunction in the no‐coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) population.MethodThis is a prospective case‐control study on 93 patients with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐positive SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and 93 matched controls. Self‐reported olfactory and gustatory dysfunction was assessed by 22‐item Sino‐Nasal‐Outcome Test (SNOT‐22), item “Sense of smell or taste.” Psychophysical orthonasal and retronasal olfactory function and gustatory performance were estimated using the extended Sniffin’ Sticks test battery, 20 powdered tasteless aromas, and taste strips test, respectively. Nasal trigeminal sensitivity was assessed by sniffing a 70% solution of acetic acid.ResultsThe two psychophysical assessments of chemosensory function took place after a median of 409 days (range, 366–461 days) and 765 days (range, 739–800 days) from the first SARS‐CoV‐2–positive swab, respectively. At 2‐year follow‐up, cases exhibited a decrease in the prevalence of olfactory (27.9% vs. 42.0%; absolute difference, −14.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI], −21.8% to −2.6%; p = 0.016) and gustatory dysfunction (14.0% vs. 25.8%; absolute difference, −11.8%; 95% CI, −24.2% to 0.6%; p = 0.098). Subjects with prior COVID‐19 were more likely than controls to have an olfactory dysfunction (27.9% vs. 10.8 %; absolute difference, 17.2%; 95% CI, 5.2% to 28.8%) but not gustatory dysfunction (14.0% vs. 9.7%; absolute difference, 4.3%; 95% CI, −5.8% to 14.4% p = 0.496) still 2 years after the infection. Overall, 3.2% of cases were still anosmic 2 years after the infection.ConclusionsAlthough a proportion of subjects recovered from long‐lasting smell/taste dysfunction more than 1 year after COVID‐19, cases still exhibited a significant excess of olfactory dysfunction 2 years after SARS‐CoV‐2 infection when compared to matched controls.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychophysical assessment of olfactory and gustatory function in post‐mild COVID‐19 patients: A matched case‐control study with 2‐year follow‐up

Boscolo‐Rizzo

Hummel

Invitto

et al. 2023

Int Forum Allergy Rhinol

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show abstract

“…Studies in animals associated these symptoms with viral persistence and inflammation in the olfactory epithelium ( 58 ), but the underlying mechanisms of these persistent dysfunctions are still debated ( 19 ). Recent studies have started to explore the involvement of humoral responses in systemic ( 59 , 60 ) and mucosal compartments ( 24 ). In accordance with their results, we did not observe a major difference in serum IgA regarding the duration of olfactory symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term systemic and mucosal SARS-CoV-2 IgA response and its association with persistent smell and taste disorders

Denis¹,

Garnier²,

Cheutin³

et al. 2023

Front. Immunol.

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IntroductionCurrent approved COVID-19 vaccines, notably mRNA and adenoviral vectored technologies, still fail to fully protect against infection and transmission of various SARS-CoV-2 variants. The mucosal immunity at the upper respiratory tract represents the first line of defense against respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and is thus critical to develop vaccine blocking human-to-human transmission.MethodsWe measured systemic and mucosal Immunoglobulin A (IgA) response in serum and saliva from 133 healthcare workers from Percy teaching military hospital following a mild infection (SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain, n=58) or not infected (n=75), and after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (Vaxzevria®/Astrazeneca and/or Comirnaty®/Pfizer).ResultsWhile serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike IgA response lasted up to 16 months post-infection, IgA response in saliva had mostly fallen to baseline level at 6 months post-infection. Vaccination could reactivate the mucosal response generated by prior infection, but failed to induce a significant mucosal IgA response by itself. Early post-COVID-19 serum anti-Spike-NTD IgA titer correlated with seroneutralization titers. Interestingly, its saliva counterpart positively correlated with persistent smell and taste disorders more than one year after mild COVID-19.DiscussionAs breakthrough infections have been correlated with IgA levels, other vaccine platforms inducing a better mucosal immunity are needed to control COVID-19 infection in the future. Our results encourage further studies to explore the prognosis potential of anti-Spike-NTD IgA in saliva at predicting persistent smell and taste disorders.

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“…Studies in animals associated these symptoms with viral persistence and inflammation in the olfactory epithelium (51), but the underlying mechanisms of these persistent dysfunctions are still debated (19). Recent studies have started to explore the involvement of humoral responses in systemic (52, 53) and mucosal compartments (24). In accordance with their results, we did not observe a major difference in serum IgA regarding the duration of olfactory symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term systemic and mucosal SARS-CoV-2 IgA response and its association with persistent smell and taste disorders

Denis¹,

Garnier²,

Cheutin³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Current approved COVID-19 vaccines, notably mRNA and adenoviral vectored technologies, still fail to fully protect against infection and transmission of various SARS-CoV-2 variants. The mucosal immunity at the upper respiratory tract represents the first line of defense against respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and is thus critical to develop vaccine blocking human-to-human transmission. We measured systemic and mucosal Immunoglobulin A (IgA) response in serum and saliva from 133 healthcare workers from Percy teaching military hospital following a mild infection (SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain, n=58) or not infected (n=75), and after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (Vaxzevria/Astrazeneca and/or Comirnaty/Pfizer). While serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike IgA response lasted up to 16 months post-infection, IgA response in saliva had mostly fallen to baseline level at 6 months post-infection. Vaccination could reactivate the mucosal response generated by prior infection, but failed to induce a significant mucosal IgA response by itself. As breakthrough infections have been correlated with IgA levels, other vaccine platforms inducing a better mucosal immunity are needed to control COVID-19 infection in the future. Early post-COVID-19 serum anti-Spike-NTD IgA titer correlated with seroneutralization titers. Interestingly, its saliva counterpart positively correlated with persistent smell and taste disorders more than one year after mild COVID-19, and could potentially be used as an early prognosis biomarker.

show abstract

Two-Year Follow-Up on Chemosensory Dysfunction and Adaptive Immune Response after Infection with SARS-CoV-2 in a Cohort of 44 Healthcare Workers

Cited by 10 publications

References 71 publications

Psychophysical assessment of olfactory and gustatory function in post‐mild COVID‐19 patients: A matched case‐control study with 2‐year follow‐up

Psychophysical assessment of olfactory and gustatory function in post‐mild COVID‐19 patients: A matched case‐control study with 2‐year follow‐up

Long-term systemic and mucosal SARS-CoV-2 IgA response and its association with persistent smell and taste disorders

Long-term systemic and mucosal SARS-CoV-2 IgA response and its association with persistent smell and taste disorders

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