Suddenly everything tastes the same – like nothing. The loss of the sense of smell and taste is one of the most well-known corona symptoms. This condition was particularly common in earlier variants. But not all people who contract the virus were affected. US researchers have now found a possible explanation for this.
The genes are to blame for the lack of taste. These are the results of the study by Janie Shelton from the US genetic analysis company “23andMe” and her team. Accordingly, people of European descent are affected more often than those with African or Asian roots. The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics.
women affected more often
Genetic data from almost 70,000 people from the USA and Great Britain were evaluated for the investigations. All of them have tested positive for the coronavirus. 68 percent of them had given a disturbance of their sense of smell or taste as a symptom. Women were affected more often than men and younger people more often than older people.
As the “Spiegel” reports, the complete genomes of the test subjects were examined for possible connections. Shelton and her team wanted to find out which gene variants occur in corona patients with olfactory disorders compared to those without these symptoms.
Two genes influence perception of smell
Around the genes UGT2A1 and UGT2A2, there was a statistically significant accumulation with an 11 percent increased probability of the smell and taste disorder. These two genes are “not only the closest, but also the biologically most plausible gene candidates,” according to the scientists.
And the researchers noticed something else: the analysis revealed that people with European roots suffered from the loss of their sense of smell more often than people from Africa or Asia.
Researchers had already discovered in the past that UGT2A1 and UGT2A2 play an important role in the formation of the sense of smell. They are mainly active in the mucous membrane of the nose and form enzymes that can make odors disappear from the receptors. This leads to the fact that the perception of the smell is prevented in the brain.
How exactly the corona infection influences the activity of the genes has not yet been finally clarified. However, the US researchers believe that their results provide the first evidence that genetic factors also play a part in determining whether the coronavirus infection affects the sense of smell. (man)