Obesity and COVID-19: Oro-Naso-Sensory Perception.

Fiche publication


Date publication

juillet 2020

Journal

Journal of clinical medicine

Auteurs

Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Pr KAHN Naim, Dr HICHAMI Aziz


Tous les auteurs :
Khan AS, Hichami A, Khan NA

Résumé

Through a recent upsurge of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the clinical assessment of most of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) patients clearly presents a health condition with the loss of oro-naso-sensory (ONS) perception, responsible for the detection of flavor and savor. These changes include anosmia and dysgeusia. In some cases, these clinical manifestations appear even before the general flu-like symptoms, e.g., sore throat, thoracic oppression and fever. There is no direct report available on the loss of these chemical senses in obese COVID-19 patients. Interestingly, obesity has been shown to be associated with low ONS cues. These alterations in obese subjects are due to obesity-induced altered expression of olfacto-taste receptors. Besides, obesity may further aggravate the SARS-CoV-2 infection, as this pathology is associated with a high degree of inflammation/immunosuppression and reduced protection against viral infections. Hence, obesity represents a great risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection, as it may hide the viral-associated altered ONS symptoms, thus leading to a high mortality rate in these subjects.

Mots clés

COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, obesity, smell, taste

Référence

J Clin Med. 2020 Jul 8;9(7):