COVID-19 lingering loss of taste or smell may be explained by genetics, study finds

The mystery of why people infected with COVID-19 lose their taste or smell may lie in a genetic risk factor, according to a recent study published in Nature Genetics.

"How we get from infection to smell loss remains unclear," said Dr. Justin Turner, an associate professor of otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., who was not part of the study.

Researchers from 23andMe, a genomics and biotechnology company, analyzed data from 69,841 individuals in the United States and United Kingdom who took online surveys after having a positive COVID-19 test, comparing those who reported a loss of taste or smell with those who did not.

Among those who tested positive for COVID-19, 68% participants reported a loss of taste or smell, the female respondents were 11% more likely than men to report the symptoms and approximately 73% were ages 26-35, per the study.

The study also found the loss of taste or smell was more common among those with a COVID-19 test compared to those who tested negative but reported cold-flu like symptoms, noting those of East Asian or African American ancestry were significantly less likely to report the loss of smell or taste compared to individuals of European ancestry.

The research team compared the genetic differences of those who reported a loss of taste or smell with those who didn’t, finding a location near two genes, UGT2A1 and UGT2A2, to be related to the sense of smell that is associated with the loss of taste and smell after being infected with COVID-19.

Even though past animal studies showed these genes, which are expressed in the tissue in our nose, are involved ... (Read more)

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