Research carried out by scientists at John Hopkins University have hypothesised and studied why Covid-19 might be causing a loss of sense of smell, or ansosmia, in some patients.
The researchers found that the ACE2 protein, which is the mechanism of cellular entry for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is “expressed at high levels in the human olfactory epithelium” inside the nasal cavity and involved in smell.
The John Hopkins team believe that these findings also suggest than an intranasal administration of anti-viral drugs could be an effective Covid-19 treatment approach.
The research was published in the European Respiratory journal and supported by funding from the US National Institutes of Health.
Share this article
