Neutrophils play a major role in the destruction of the olfactory epithelium during SARS-CoV-2 infection in hamsters.

ABSTRACT: The loss of smell (anosmia) related to SARS-CoV-2 infection is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. Olfaction starts in the olfactory epithelium mainly composed of olfactory sensory neurons surrounded by supporting cells called sustentacular cells. It is now clear that the loss of smell is related to the massive infection by SARS-CoV-2 of the sustentacular cells in the olfactory epithelium leading to its desquamation. However, the molecular mechanism behind the destabilization of the olfactory epithelium is less clear. Using golden Syrian hamsters infected with an early circulating SARS-CoV-2 strain harboring the D614G mutation in the spike protein; we show here that rather than being related to a first wave of apoptosis as proposed in previous studies, the innate immune cells play

SUBMITTER: Bourgon C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9734468 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature