Taste bud cells might not be target of Coronavirus

New York: Contrary to the previous findings, which stated that the novel coronavirus directly targets taste buds cells in Covid-19 patients, a new study has now revealed that the loss of the sense of smell and taste linked to inflammation caused by the infection. "An intriguing early symptom among some Covid-19 patients is the loss of the sense of smell and taste, which has led to the suspicion that the virus that causes the illness, SARS-CoV-2, could be targeting taste buds," said study authors from the University of Georgia in the US. "But the initial data from mice suggest that might not be the case," the authors wrote in a paper published in the journal ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.

According to the study, viruses cause infection by invading specific cells in the body and reproducing, often damaging or killing those cells in the process. Research has shown that SARS-CoV-2 enters human cells through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a receptor on the surface of some cells, including those of the human tongue. For the current findings, the research team wanted to find out whether ACE2 was expressed specifically in taste bud cells, as well as when this receptor first emerges on tongue cells during fetal development, by studying mice as a model organism.