-
Categories
-
Pharmaceutical Intermediates
-
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
-
Food Additives
- Industrial Coatings
- Agrochemicals
- Dyes and Pigments
- Surfactant
- Flavors and Fragrances
- Chemical Reagents
- Catalyst and Auxiliary
- Natural Products
- Inorganic Chemistry
-
Organic Chemistry
-
Biochemical Engineering
- Analytical Chemistry
- Cosmetic Ingredient
-
Pharmaceutical Intermediates
Promotion
ECHEMI Mall
Wholesale
Weekly Price
Exhibition
News
-
Trade Service
In a study led by the Stanford University School of Medicine, patients whose sense of smell was affected by COVID-19 were helped by injecting platelet-rich plasma extracted from their own blood
Early in the pandemic, when COVID-19 patients began to report that they had lost their sense of smell, Zara Patel, MD, thought it was important
.
Patel, a professor of otolaryngology at Stanford University School of Medicine, has been studying olfactory loss as a symptom
of viral infections for years.
"Many viruses cause loss of smell, so we weren't surprised
when we, as rhinologists, found out that COVID-19 causes loss of smell and taste.
This is almost expected
.
Patel also knows that this condition may persist for some time and that there are few effective treatments
at the moment.
According to a 2022 survey by Patel and colleagues, about 15% of people who lost their sense of smell due to COVID-19 continued to have problems
six months later.
There are about 9 million people in the United States, and that number is growing
.
Many people who report losing their sense of smell also report losing their sense of taste because smell is an important part of
how we experience food.
Now, Patel's team has tested a new treatment to treat the long-term loss of smell associated with COVID-19 by injecting platelet-rich plasma extracted from the patient's own blood
.
In a trial with 26 participants, patients treated were 12.
5 times
more likely to get better than those who received a placebo injection.
The study was published at the International Allergy and Rhinology Forum on Dec.
12
.
Platelet-rich plasma is a concentrated form of plasma, the liquid part of the blood that removes blood cells and other blood components
.
It is rich in platelets and, most importantly, growth factors – compounds
known to help regenerate tissues.
Platelet-rich plasma injected into joints can treat mild arthritis, use it on the face to reduce wrinkles, and even inject into the scalp to regenerate
hair.
Patel is skeptical of this cure-all, but he's interested in a study that shows platelet-rich plasma injections are just as effective as
surgery in treating carpal tunnel syndrome.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by
compression and injury to the nerves of the wrist.
She knows that the loss of smell associated with COVID-19 is also a neurological problem, and that the long-term effects of the virus prevent nerves deep in the nose from regenerating
properly.
These nerves are connected to the brain and usually regenerate every three to four months
.
"It's a nerve damage and nerve regeneration issue that we're dealing with," she said
.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus does not directly target nerve cells; It attacks support cells known as support cells, which have ACE-2 receptors that the virus uses to infect cells
.
These cells play a role in proper nerve regeneration, so ongoing inflammation and damage to these cells can lead to long-term loss
of function.
Patel has completed a small pilot study demonstrating the safety of injecting platelet-rich plasma into the nose during a pandemic, so she plans to conduct a larger trial specifically focused on COVID-19-related olfactory loss
.
All participants confirmed previous infection with COVID-19 and sustained olfactory loss for 6 to 12 months
.
They must also have already tried other treatments, such as olfactory training and steroid flushing
.
"I want to make sure that whatever intervention I'm looking at is not just replacing or equating with a treatment that we're already doing, but a transcendent benefit
," Patel said.
Half of the participants received platelet-rich plasma injections into tissues deep in their noses every two weeks for six weeks, while the other half received a placebo injection (normal saline)
on the same schedule.
Neither the participants nor the researchers knew who received what
.
The researchers used a standard olfactory test called Sniffin' Sticks to assess olfactory ability
.
The test includes a range of odors, ranging from pleasant (flower) to scary (rotten egg) odors, and participants will score based on their ability to recognize odors, distinguish odors, and determine odor intensity, with a total score of 48 points
.
When the researchers examined the participants three months after the first injection, the platelet-rich plasma group scored an average of 6.
25 points higher than before treatment and 3.
67 points
higher than the placebo group.
They get the greatest improvement in their ability to distinguish between different odors, which is known as olfactory discrimination
.
At 3 months, clinically significant improvement was seen in 57.
1% of patients in the platelet-rich plasma group, compared with 8.
3%
in the placebo group.
Interestingly, when participants assessed their olfactory abilities, both groups reported similar improvements
.
Patel said previous research has found that subjective improvements don't always match
objective improvements.
Patel said the improvement in the placebo group may have been due in part to the placebo effect, but it could also suggest that some spontaneous recovery
may occur even after six months.
Patel said the coronavirus has drawn attention to the loss of smell after the virus, and perhaps there is a greater awareness of the role
smell plays in our daily lives.
Although the study did not assess loss of taste, the recovery of smell may also contribute to the recovery
of taste.
"People always tell me that until they lose their sense of smell and taste, they don't realize how important their sense of smell and taste are to them and their quality of life," she said
.
"People say, 'My life has
become gray.
' ”
Patel is now injecting platelet-rich plasma
into patients outside of the trial.
"Our olfactory system is resilient," Patel said
.
"But the sooner you have some kind of explicit intervention, the better the chance of possible improvement
.
"
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, participated in the study
.
