Through The Back Door: Expiratory Accumulation of SARS-Cov-2 in the Olfactory Mucosa as Mechanism for CNS Penetration [article]

Maurizio Quadrio, Carlotta Pipolo, Antonio Mario Bulfamante, Andrea Schillaci, Jacopo Banchetti, Luca Castellani, Alberto Maria Saibene, Giovanni Felisati
2020 biorxiv/medrxiv   pre-print
SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus supposed to enter the organism through aerosol or fomite transmission to the nose, eyes and oropharynx. It is responsible for various clinical symptoms, including hyposmia and other neurological ones. Current literature suggests the olfactory mucosa as a port of entry to the CNS, but how the virus reaches the olfactory groove is still unknown. Because the first neurological symptoms of invasion (hyposmia) do not correspond to first signs of infection, the
more » ... esis of direct contact through airborne droplets during primary infection and therefore during inspiration is not plausible. The aim of this study is to evaluate if a secondary spread to the olfactory groove in a retrograde manner during expiration could be more probable.
doi:10.1101/2020.12.09.20242396 fatcat:y26innlvbzfhlhjbdafwohgxoy