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Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Absorption of Nasal and Bronchial Fluids: Precision Sampling of the Human Respiratory Mucosa and Laboratory Processing of Samples
Published on: January 21, 2018
Enhanced detection of respiratory pathogens in olfactory swabs correlates with olfactory dysfunction in chronic
Lichuan Zhang1, Jingfan Wang1, Zhifu Sun1
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing An Zhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100029, China.
Purpose:
To investigate the association between respiratory pathogens in olfactory cleft and olfactory dysfunction (OD) in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).
Method:
In this cross-sectional study, 152 CRS patients underwent comprehensive evaluations including Sniffin' Sticks olfactory testing, paranasal sinus computed tomography (CT), and nasal endoscopy. Under endoscopic guidance, olfactory cleft samples were obtained via standardized scraping techniques. Nucleic acid testing identified for 32 respiratory pathogens.
Results:
Among the patients with CRS, 67.1% exhibited OD, while 32.9% did not. After correction for multiple tests, OD patients showed higher positive rate of overall pathogens, particularly viral pathogens, compared to CRS without OD (all q < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that overall pathogen positivity (adjusted OR = 2.75, 95% CI: 1.41-6.19, p = 0.004) and viral detection (adjusted OR = 2.96, 95% CI: 1.09-8.00, p = 0.032) were each adjusted associated with OD. Furthermore, both exposure factors worsened olfactory function scores (B = -2.67, 95% CI: -5.08 to -0.26, β = -0.18, p = 0.030 for overall pathogen positivity; B = -2.89, 95% CI: -5.63 to -0.14, β = -0.18, p = 0.046 for viral positivity).
Conclusions:
Detected pathogens in olfactory cleft, particularly viruses, are associated with OD in CRS. Our findings suggest the potential value of pathogen monitoring and support further study of pathogen detection's clinical relevance to OD in CRS.
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