Omicron Impacts Olfaction in Hamsters.

ABSTRACT: Olfactory disorders have been a hallmark of COVID-19. Since the emergence of Omicron, the prevalence of anosmia has dropped, reducing interest for Omicron pathophysiology in the nasal cavity. Using the hamster model, we show that despite a lower impact than early variants of SARS-CoV-2 (D614G), Omicron BA.1 infection leads to hyposmia as early as 2 days postinfection (dpi). While the olfactory epithelium was mostly spared from Omicron infection at 2 dpi, the respiratory epithelium was strongly infected with increased presence of inflammation markers, epithelial damage, and cellular debris in the lumen of the nasal cavity. The hyposmia caused by the early SARS-CoV-2 variant and Omicron BA.1 infection was similar at 4 and 8 dpi. At 4 dpi, Omicron successfully infected the olfactory epitheliu

SUBMITTER: Guerin V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12292033 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature