# Genetic underpinnings of dysosmia in COVID-19

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $191,875

## Abstract

Abstract entitled “Genetic underpinnings of dysosmia in COVID-19”: There is evidence that smell and taste
dysfunction is an early and often the only identifier in COVI-19 positive patients. We hypothesize that genetic
variants in specific candidate genes associated with the development of unique sensory phenotypes of COVID-19
patients: In patients reported to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery using the COVID-19
Anosmia Reporting Tool for Clinicians, in the first 237 entries anosmia was noted in 73% of patients prior to COVID-19
diagnosis and was the initial symptom in 26.6%. The occurrence in asymptomatic individuals makes this finding a useful
target for public health screening and would facilitate earlier diagnosis and treatment, as well as the identification of those
individuals who are not ill but still capable of spreading the disease. The mechanism underlying sensory alteration is
currently unknown. Infectious diseases may demonstrate a heritable component – that is the propensity to contract and
develop active infection and the severity of the immune response is influenced by host genetic factors to some extent and
may reflect inter-individual variation in the host immune response. The genetic basis of this variability in response will
provide important clues for therapeutics and lead to identification of groups at high risk of death. Public health measures
to identify those at increased genetic risk of severe infection would be useful as a way of mitigating the economic effects
of lockdown and social distancing policies. The genetic influence on COVID-19 symptoms may reflect genotype status of
candidate genes such as ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Our team has been on the forefront to collect preliminary data on the
presence of neurosensory disturbances in COVID-19 patients. We and others reported that anosmia is an important
predictive symptom of COVID-19. Moreover, a UK twin study has shown that anosmia in COVID-19 patients has a high
heritability (h2 = 0.48), suggesting that an individual's genotype plays a role in the presence or absence of this symptom.
The goal of this study is to determine the susceptibility which may be influenced by host genotype to sensory disorders in
COVID-19 patients to estimate the heritability of covid-19 sensory symptoms. In this study we will expand our work on
following Specific Aim: Identify genetic variation associated with the development of dysosmia in COVID-19
patients. We hypothesize that there are genetic variants in the candidate genes that underlie smell and taste dysfunction in
both symptomatic and otherwise asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. Preliminary data: We have established an
international interdisciplinary collaboration team and have collected and published preliminary data on the role of ENT in
COVID-19 and on the prevalence of sensory dysfunction in COVID-19 in our pilot studies. To determine if variants in
specific candidate genes are associated with the development of ano...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10177502
- **Project number:** 3R01DC005575-19S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** XUE Z LIU
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $191,875
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2001-09-15 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10177502

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10177502, Genetic underpinnings of dysosmia in COVID-19 (3R01DC005575-19S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10177502. Licensed CC0.

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