Published: 17 January 2022
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00986-w
Adam Auton, Adrian Chubb, Alison Fitch, Alison Kung, Amanda Altman, Andy Kill, Anjali J. Shastri, Antony Symons, Catherine Weldon, Daniella Coker, Janie F. Shelton, Jason Tan, Jeff Pollard,
Jey McCreight, Jess Bielenberg, John Matthews, Johnny Lee, Lindsey Tran, Maya Lowe,
Monica Royce, Nate Tang, Pooja Gandhi, Raffaello d’Amore, Ruth Tennen, Scott Dvorak, Scott Hadly, Stella Aslibekyan, Sungmin Park, Taylor Morrow, Teresa Filshtein Sonmez, Trung Le and Yiwen Zheng
Abstract
Using online surveys, we collected data regarding COVID-19-related loss of smell or taste from 69,841 individuals. We performed a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study and identified a genome-wide significant locus in the vicinity of the UGT2A1 and UGT2A2genes. Both genes are expressed in the olfactory epithelium and play a role in metabolizing odorants. These findings provide a genetic link to the biological mechanisms underlying COVID-19-related loss of smell or taste.
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00986-w
Adam Auton, Adrian Chubb, Alison Fitch, Alison Kung, Amanda Altman, Andy Kill, Anjali J. Shastri, Antony Symons, Catherine Weldon, Daniella Coker, Janie F. Shelton, Jason Tan, Jeff Pollard,
Jey McCreight, Jess Bielenberg, John Matthews, Johnny Lee, Lindsey Tran, Maya Lowe,
Monica Royce, Nate Tang, Pooja Gandhi, Raffaello d’Amore, Ruth Tennen, Scott Dvorak, Scott Hadly, Stella Aslibekyan, Sungmin Park, Taylor Morrow, Teresa Filshtein Sonmez, Trung Le and Yiwen Zheng
Abstract
Using online surveys, we collected data regarding COVID-19-related loss of smell or taste from 69,841 individuals. We performed a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study and identified a genome-wide significant locus in the vicinity of the UGT2A1 and UGT2A2genes. Both genes are expressed in the olfactory epithelium and play a role in metabolizing odorants. These findings provide a genetic link to the biological mechanisms underlying COVID-19-related loss of smell or taste.
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