Chemical Senses in Health and Disease

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About this Research Topic

Submission deadlines

  1. Manuscript Submission Deadline 1 October 2024

Background

The early COVID19 pandemic brought olfaction and taste to the stage, being anosmia (the lack of olfactory perception) and ageusia (the lack of taste perception) two of the symptoms of infection. However, the chemical senses also include chemesthesis, the chemical sensitivity of the skin, particularly relevant in areas innervated by the trigeminal nerve.

Chemical sensitivity is vital also for the detection of molecules inside our body, and chemical sensing includes receptors for many molecules localized at specific sites, like the carotid body, or scattered in various organs, like -but not limited to- the lung or the gut. Information from chemical receptors is transmitted to the brain and integrated at various sites, to drive our behavior: indeed, olfactory circuitry includes areas involved in behavioral regulation and emotional control. The chemical senses also regulate the inner environment, to maintain homeostasis. This role is often underappreciated, yet it may be relevant in health and disease. The chemical senses are often dysregulated in brain diseases, including neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease and cognitive decline, or in mood disorders like depression. Similar receptors may be found at diverse sites scattered throughout the body, hence they may be hit by the same disease, leading to different effects, depending on the affected site. For example, in COVID-19, the dysregulation of visceral chemical sensitivity at various sites may underlie silent hypoxia, diarrhea or the cytokine storm seen.

Chemical senses are often affected in infectious diseases, yet they are also disturbed in a variety of chronic, non-infectious diseases, like hypertension, diabetes or cancer. This may not be by chance: chemosensory malfunction may deprive the organism of guardians that monitor the chemical environment, worsening the fate of patients.

This Research Topic aims to exploit the roles of chemical senses in the different diseases, to highlight their role as sentinels of health, whose dysregulation may lead to effects ranging from mild to life-threatening symptoms. Contributions may include the description or review of biochemical events, genetic diseases, anatomical pathways, physiological processes and the underlying neural circuitry that may highlight the link between chemical senses and the different diseases, from molecular to cell, circuits and systemic level.

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This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Case Report
  • Classification
  • Clinical Trial
  • Community Case Study
  • Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
  • Data Report
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
  • Mini Review
  • Opinion
  • Original Research
  • Perspective
  • Policy and Practice Reviews
  • Policy Brief
  • Review
  • Study Protocol
  • Systematic Review
  • Technology and Code

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Chemical senses, Neurodegenerative disorders, Chemosensory malfunction, Health sentinels

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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