Impaired metal perception and regulation of associated human foliate papillae tongue transcriptome in long-COVID-19
- Author(s)
- Barbara Danzer, Mateo Jukic, Andreas Dunkel, Gaby Andersen, Barbara Lieder, Erika Schaudy, Sarah Stadlmayr, Jory Lietard, Timm Michel, Dietmar Krautwurst, Bernhard Haller, Percy Knolle, Mark Somoza, Paul Lingor, Veronika Somoza
- Abstract
Chemosensory impairment is an outstanding symptom of SARS-CoV-2 infections. We hypothesized that measured sensory impairments are accompanied by transcriptomic changes in the foliate papillae area of the tongue. Hospital personnel with known SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) status completed questionnaires on sensory perception (n = 158). A subcohort of n = 141 participated in forced choice taste tests, and n = 43 participants consented to donate tongue swabs of the foliate papillae area for whole transcriptome analysis. The study included four groups of participants differing in IgG levels (≥ 10 AU/mL = IgG+; < 10 AU/mL = IgG-) and self-reported sensory impairment (SSI±). IgG+ subjects not detecting metallic taste had higher IgG+ levels than IgG+ participants detecting iron gluconate (p = 0.03). Smell perception was the most impaired biological process in the transcriptome data from IgG+/SSI+ participants subjected to gene ontology enrichment. IgG+/SSI+ subjects demonstrated lower expression levels of 166 olfactory receptors (OR) and 9 taste associated receptors (TAS) of which OR1A2, OR2J2, OR1A1, OR5K1 and OR1G1, as well as TAS2R7 are linked to metallic perception. The question raised by this study is whether odorant receptors on the tongue (i) might play a role in metal sensation, and (ii) are potential targets for virus-initiated sensory impairments, which needs to be investigated in future functional studies.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Physiological Chemistry, Department of Inorganic Chemistry
- External organisation(s)
- Technische Universität München, German Research Center for Food Chemistry, University Hospital Rechts der Isar, Universität Hohenheim, Deutsches Zentrum für neurodegenerative Erkrankungen
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Volume
- 14
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-66079-w
- Publication date
- 12-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 301110 Physiology, 301303 Medical biochemistry
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/f07debd6-d0e2-4286-b5c1-79a7f53d3635