Researchers at National Institutes of Health, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill appear to have made a breakthrough. That’s because what they found helps us understand COVID-19 oral symptoms, including dry mouth, blistering, and loss of taste. They advise they have proof the coronavirus infects the cells of the mouth. National Institutes of Health published the news on March 25, 2021.
What Makes This Claim Particularly Important
We’ve known for a while the coronavirus can travel from the upper airways and lungs to other parts of the body. Major known sites include the digestive system, blood vessels, and kidneys. But now it seems we can add our mouth cells to the list.
Knowing the coronavirus may infect the cells of the mouth, helps explain how it travels to the lungs and digestive system, via saliva laden with virus from infected oral cells. This finding adds to knowledge critical for combating this disease, the researchers say.
How the Coronavirus Infects the Cells of the Mouth and Travels
The researchers knew the saliva of infected people contained rich loads of the virus. In fact, this is the basis for saliva sampling which is nearly as effective as nose swabbing. They had previously thought this arrived in the coughed-up sputum of infected people. But how did it get there from people without respiratory symptoms?
First, the scientists looked for ACE2 receptor cells, and TMPRSS2 enzymes in healthy people the coronavirus needs to take root. They found both of these in their salivary glands and gums cells, making them potential virus landing spots.
Then they looked for the coronavirus in those places in 35 infected volunteers, as well as people who died from it. Sure enough, the coronavirus was there in 27 living subjects.
‘When infected saliva is swallowed – or tiny particles of it are inhaled – we think it can potentially transmit SARS-CoV-2 further into our throats, our lungs, or even our guts,’ they report. However, more work is needed with a larger sample to confirm this most interesting development.
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Preview Image: SARS-CoV-2 RNA and ACE2 Receptors
