Some patients with coronavirus lose their smells and tastes: they candisappear altogether or
Previously, American researchers found the virus in the neurons of the cerebral cortex, but the study was carried out on only three patients, so it is impossible to draw clear conclusions based on it.
The authors of the new work continued to study this topic anddecided to study the neurons of the olfactory bulbs in 68 patients who died from COVID-19. Immediately after death, they underwent a biopsy of the epithelium of the nose and olfactory bulbs. The cells were searched for coronavirus RNA by RNA hybridization and immunohistochemistry.
According to the results of the work, signs of COVID-19 were found in 30patients, this is 44% of the entire group. Most often, the virus affected ciliary epithelial cells - 90%, and in 20% of cases - supporting cells of the olfactory epithelium.
The authors note that they found no lesionsolfactory sensory neurons. Therefore, we can conclude that COVID-19 is most likely not a neurotropic virus, which means the loss of odors occurs due to temporary dysfunction of supporting cells. According to the authors of the work, coronavirus does not infect brain cells.
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