Background <p>The most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection include fever, myalgia, cough, dyspnea, and loss of smell and taste. Some studies have suggested that a COVID-19-related reduction in taste receptor expression may lead to the loss of taste. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the expression levels of taste receptor genes in COVID-19 patients. Gene expression levels of TAS1R1, TAS1R2, and TAS1R3 were analyzed in 100 COVID-19 patients (50 with loss of taste and 50 without) and 50 SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR-negative individuals.</p> Methods <p>150 nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from Iranian COVID-19 patients (50 with loss of taste and 50 without) and SARS-CoV-2 negative persons as a control group and evaluated for TAS1R1, TAS1R2, and TAS1R3 gene expression using mRNA measurement. Gene expression was evaluated using two-step real-time PCR, and RPLP0 was used as a reference gene.</p> Result <p>The expression levels of taste genes did not show a significant difference between healthy individuals and infected patients with and without loss of taste. There was also no significant difference between the gene expression levels in each group.</p> Conclusions <p>Although our findings were not statistically significant, temporary ageusia may be attributed to the high replication rate of SARS-CoV-2 in infected gustatory cells within the taste buds. This replication could induce inflammation and potentially lead to cell destruction.</p>