Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb 3;14(2):219.
doi: 10.3390/life14020219.

The Bittersweet Symphony of COVID-19: Associations between TAS1Rs and TAS2R38 Genetic Variations and COVID-19 Symptoms

Aurora Santin  1 , Beatrice Spedicati  1   2 , Alessandro Pecori  2 , Giuseppe Giovanni Nardone  1 , Maria Pina Concas  2 , Gioia Piatti  3   4 , Anna Menini  5 , Giancarlo Tirelli  1 , Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo  1 , Giorgia Girotto  1   2
Affiliations

The Bittersweet Symphony of COVID-19: Associations between TAS1Rs and TAS2R38 Genetic Variations and COVID-19 Symptoms

Aurora Santin et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

The innate immune system is crucial in fighting SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, deepening our understanding of the underlying immune response mechanisms is fundamental for the development of novel therapeutic strategies. The role of extra-oral bitter (TAS2Rs) and sweet (TAS1Rs) taste receptors in immune response regulation has yet to be fully understood. However, a few studies have investigated the association between taste receptor genes and COVID-19 symptom severity, with controversial results. Therefore, this study aims to deepen the relationship between COVID-19 symptom presence/severity and TAS1R and TAS2R38 (TAS2Rs member) genetic variations in a cohort of 196 COVID-19 patients. Statistical analyses detected significant associations between rs307355 of the TAS1R3 gene and the following COVID-19-related symptoms: chest pain and shortness of breath. Specifically, homozygous C/C patients are exposed to an increased risk of manifesting severe forms of chest pain (OR 8.11, 95% CI 2.26-51.99) and shortness of breath (OR 4.83, 95% CI 1.71-17.32) in comparison with T/C carriers. Finally, no significant associations between the TAS2R38 haplotype and the presence/severity of COVID-19 symptoms were detected. This study, taking advantage of a clinically and genetically characterised cohort of COVID-19 patients, revealed TAS1R3 gene involvement in determining COVID-19 symptom severity independently of TAS2R38 activity, thus providing novel insights into the role of TAS1Rs in regulating the immune response to viral infections.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 symptoms; TAS1R2; TAS1R3; TAS2R38; immune response.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chest pain and shortness of breath severity assessment and rs307355 (TAS1R3 gene) genotype distribution. Graphical representation of chest pain (panel A) and shortness of breath (panel B) severity assessment according to rs307355 genotype distribution.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Parsa S., Mogharab V., Ebrahimi M., Ahmadi S.R., Shahi B., Mehramiz N.J., Foroughian M., Zarenezhad M., Kalani N., Abdi M.H., et al. COVID-19 as a Worldwide Selective Event and Bitter Taste Receptor Polymorphisms: An Ecological Correlational Study. Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 2021;177:204–210. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.02.070. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yuan Y., Jiao B., Qu L., Yang D., Liu R. The Development of COVID-19 Treatment. Front. Immunol. 2023;14:1125246. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1125246. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mair M., Singhavi H., Pai A., Singhavi J., Gandhi P., Conboy P., Baker A., Das S. A Meta-Analysis of 67 Studies with Presenting Symptoms and Laboratory Tests of COVID-19 Patients. Laryngoscope. 2021;131:1254–1265. doi: 10.1002/lary.29207. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mastrangelo A., Bonato M., Cinque P. Smell and Taste Disorders in COVID-19: From Pathogenesis to Clinical Features and Outcomes. Neurosci. Lett. 2021;748:135694. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.135694. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schultze J.L., Aschenbrenner A.C. COVID-19 and the Human Innate Immune System. Cell. 2021;184:1671–1692. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.029. - DOI - PMC - PubMed