The rapid recovery of smell and taste functions in COVID-19 patients could be attributed to a decrease in interleukin-6 levels rather than central nervous system ischemic injury or viral damage to neuronal cells. To correlate interleukin-6 levels in COVID-19 patients with olfactory or gustatory dysfunctions and to investigate the role of IL-6 in the onset of these disorders, this observational study investigated 67 COVID-19 patients with taste or smell disorders or both, who did not require intensive care admission, admitted at COVID Hospital of Policlinico of Bari from March to May 2020. Interleukin-6 was assayed in COVID-19 patients with taste or smell disturbances at the time of admission and at the time of swab negativization. At the same time, patients have been given a specific survey to evaluate the severity of taste and smell disturbances. Of 125 patients with smell or taste dysfunctions at onset of disease, 67 fulfilled the inclusion criteria, while 58 were excluded because 35 of them required intensive care admission, 5 were unable to answer, 5 died, 7 had finished chemotherapy recently, and 5 refused to participate. The evaluation of taste and smell disorders was carried out using a survey performed at the time of admission and at the time of swab negativization. Sinonasal outcome test 22 (SNOT-22) was used as a reference for olfactory function assessment, and Taste and Smell Questionnaire Section of the US NHANES 2011–2014 protocol (CDC 2013b) was used as reference for gustatory function assessment. A venous blood sample was taken for each patient to measure IL-6 levels upon entry and at swab negativization. Interleukin-6 levels in COVID-19 patients in relation to olfactory or gustatory disorders were correlated from the time of their admission to the time of swab negativization. Statistically significant correlations were obtained between the decrease of interleukin-6 levels and the improvement of smell (p value < 0.05) and taste (p = 0.047) functions at swab negativization. The acquired results demonstrate the key role of interleukin-6 in the pathogenesis of chemosensitive disorders in COVID-19 patients.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 患者的味觉和嗅觉障碍：IL-6 的作用。

COVID-19患者嗅觉和味觉功能的快速恢复可能归因于白细胞介素6水平的下降，而不是中枢神经系统缺血性损伤或病毒对神经元细胞的损伤。为了关联患有嗅觉或味觉功能障碍的 COVID-19 患者的白细胞介素 6 水平，并研究 IL-6 在这些疾病发作中的作用，这项观察性研究调查了 67 名患有味觉或嗅觉障碍或两者兼而有之的 COVID-19 患者，他们不需要重症监护入院，于 2020 年 3 月至 5 月在巴里 Policlinico 的 COVID 医院住院。在入院时和拭子阴性时，对有味觉或嗅觉障碍的 COVID-19 患者进行了白细胞介素 6 检测。同时，对患者进行了专门的调查，以评估味觉和嗅觉障碍的严重程度。125 例发病时出现嗅觉或味觉功能障碍的患者中，67 例符合纳入标准，58 例被排除，因为其中 35 例需要重症监护，5 例无法回答，5 例死亡，7 例最近完成化疗，5 例拒绝参加。味觉和嗅觉障碍的评估是通过入院时和拭子阴性时进行的调查进行的。鼻腔结果测试22（SNOT-22）用作嗅觉功能评估的参考，美国NHANES 2011-2014方案的味觉和嗅觉问卷部分（CDC 2013b）用作味觉功能评估的参考。对每位患者采集静脉血样本，以测量进入时和拭子阴性时的 IL-6 水平。从入院时到拭子阴性时，COVID-19 患者的白细胞介素 6 水平与嗅觉或味觉障碍相关。在拭子阴性时，白细胞介素 6 水平的降低与嗅觉（ p值 < 0.05）和味觉（p = 0.047）功能的改善之间存在统计学上显着的相关性。获得的结果证明了 IL-6 在 COVID-19 患者化疗敏感性疾病发病机制中的关键作用。