Does serotonin deficiency lead to anosmia, ageusia, dysfunctional chemesthesis and increased severity of illness in COVID-19?

[RealNeat]

Modulation of tryptophan metabolism is critical for setting the rate of oxidation/reduction in several dimensions - I think it's intimately involved in generation of tissue environments that are on the spectrum of "self," or cooperative, and "non-self," or destructive. This has obvious implications for immune function. I suspect part of this is mediated through an optical signalling pathway that is active in UV.

I think that tryptophan plays a key role in the coronavirus disease progression, in that disrupting certain aspects of it's regulatory mechanisms is capable of causing catastrophic vascular incompetence. This is is concert with impaired vascular reactivity in the adrenal system, which damages the blood.

From my perspective, serotonin is involved insofar as it tends to sensitize critical TRP channels, allowing for some degree of restoration of feedback in these mechanisms. It is possible to have high serum serotonin, yet be deficient in critical areas. Anti-serotonin measures would probably be effective in treating most symptoms of serious disease progression and probably wouldn't impact the orders of magnitude lower concentrations in nervous tissue like the olfactory system. Like @Hans said, this is more related to disruption of the B0AT1 amino acid transport system.

If you're interested in more of the mechanisms regarding tryptophan, serotonin, and blood, see my thread here.

Coronavirus Infection – ACE2, UV, Tryptophan, And Hemoglobin Oxygen Binding

It's also important to mention the TDO/IDO pathway, and their products kynurenic and quinolinic acids. I suspect these are key players in the previously mentioned "self/non-self" sensing systems, and examination of their structure indicates possible interaction with functional carbonyl groups, implicating the fine tuning of the rate of metabolism as being a critical factor in immune function and tissue differentation.

"Hello Dr. Peat.

This hypothesis is being talked about on the forum.

Does serotonin deficiency lead to anosmia, ageusia, dysfunctional chemesthesis and increased severity of illness in COVID-19?​

Does serotonin deficiency lead to anosmia, ageusia, dysfunctional chemesthesis and increased severity of illness in COVID-19?

How does this fit in with people having success with things like cinanserin? It seems like the opposite is being suggested in this article? Thank you "

RP: "With an article like that, it’s important to check the congruence of references with claims, and to consider the arguments for the opposite of his claims, for example the role of serotonin in the vascular permeability, pulmonary edema, intravascular coagulation and other coagulopathies, diarrhea, and cytokine storm associated with covid."

 

[aliml]

It's also a sigma receptor agonist, which has anti-viral effects.

FIASMA (Functional inhibitors of acid sphingomyelinase) seems more likely than sigma-1 agonist because of this.

Association Between FIASMAs and Reduced Risk of Intubation or Death in Individuals Hospitalized for Severe COVID-19: An Observational Multicenter Study - PubMed

Several medications commonly used for a number of medical conditions share a property of functional inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM), or FIASMA. Preclinical and clinical evidence suggest that the ASM/ceramide system may be central to severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Cyproheptadine does also act as FIASMA.

FIASMA - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Hans]

FIASMA (Functional inhibitors of acid sphingomyelinase) seems more likely than sigma-1 agonist because of this.

Association Between FIASMAs and Reduced Risk of Intubation or Death in Individuals Hospitalized for Severe COVID-19: An Observational Multicenter Study - PubMed

Several medications commonly used for a number of medical conditions share a property of functional inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM), or FIASMA. Preclinical and clinical evidence suggest that the ASM/ceramide system may be central to severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Cyproheptadine does also act as FIASMA.

FIASMA - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah I've seen that one as well.

 

[RealNeat]

Why an antidepressant (SSRI) could be used to treat COVID-19

“A commonly used drug called fluvoxamine was recently tested as a treatment for COVID-19 in the United States. The 152 patients enrolled in the trial had been confirmed to have COVID-19 using a PCR test, and had seen symptoms appear within the past seven days. Patients who already required...

raypeatforum.com

good insights here.