{"doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0274611","title":"Chemosensory deficits are best predictor of serologic response among individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2","abstract":"OBJECTIVE: Smell and taste alteration are closely linked to infection with SARS-CoV-2 and may be associated with a more indolent disease course. Serologic response rates among individuals with mild disease remains limited. We sought to identify whether chemosensory changes associated with COVID-19 were predictive of a serologic response. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: The sample consisted of 306 adults (≥18 years old) volunteering for convalescent plasma donation following perceived COVID-19 illness from April-June 2020. Documentation of COVID-19 PCR status, clinical symptoms at time of illness, and treatment course occurred at the time of serologic analysis, where we assessed chemosensory function using patient-perceived deficits. We implemented previously validated ELISA screening to determine serologic status regarding anti-Spike immunoglobulins. Statistical analysis using stepwise logistic models were employed to identify predictive factors of serologic response. RESULTS: Of 306 patients undergoing serologic and chemosensory evaluation, 196 (64.1%) and 195 (63.7%) reported subjective olfactory and taste dysfunction, respectively, during the first two weeks of COVID-19 infection. In unadjusted models, the odds of developing suprathreshold IgG antibody titers were 1.98 times higher among those who reported altered smell (95% CI 1.14-3.42, p = 0.014) and 2.02 times higher among those with altered taste (95% CI 1.17-3.48, p = 0.011) compared to those with normal smell and taste. Multivariable logistic models adjusting for sex, age, race/ethnicity, symptom duration, smoking status and comorbidities index demonstrated that altered smell and taste remained significant predictors of positive anti-spike IgG response (smell OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.05-3.44, p = 0.033; taste OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.12-3.61, p = 0.019). CONCLUSION: Subjective chemosensory dysfunction, as self-reported smell or taste deficiency, is highly predictive of serologic response following SARS-CoV-2 infection. This information may be useful for patient counseling. Additional longitudinal research should be performed to better understand the onset and duration of the serologic response in these patients.","journal":"PLoS ONE","year":2022,"id":290672,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":4,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.8792,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":669714,"name":"Alexandria L. Irace","orcid":"0000-0003-4758-3146","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":973556,"name":"Valeria Mazzanti","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":905236,"name":"Eun Jeong Oh","orcid":"0000-0001-8949-6564","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":231551,"name":"Paule V. Joseph","orcid":"0000-0002-1198-9622","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":291364,"name":"Davangere P. Devanand","orcid":"0000-0001-8597-1380","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":229316,"name":"Zachary C. Bitan","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":110274,"name":"Eldad A. Hod","orcid":"0000-0002-2367-9509","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":973114,"name":"David A. Gudis","orcid":"0000-0002-1938-9349","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":813226,"name":"Codruța Chiuzan","orcid":"0000-0001-8169-5032","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":238079,"name":"Jonathan B. Overdevest","orcid":"0000-0002-1152-2512","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":43,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:30:30.639224Z","pmid":"36516124","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}