Femiano F, Gombos F, Esposito V, Nunziata M, Scully Crispian
Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2006 Jan 1;11(1):E22-5.
Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic, intraoral burning sensation seen mainly in middle-aged and post-menopausal females, without identifiable oral lesions or abnormal laboratory findings, but often associated with psychogenic disorders such as depression. The latter can have a range of causes, including hormonal.
Since there may be connections between BMS, psychogenic changes, hormonal changes and taste abnormalities, we have examined aspects of taste and thyroid function.
We selected 50 patients with BMS (study group) and 50 healthy subjects (control group) and analysed their ability to taste bitter, acid and spicy substances and analysed their thyroid function and Undertook thyroid echography.
Taste sensation was normal in all controls. However, 30 of the patients with BMS reported ageusia for bitter taste and 2 had ageusia for acid. The use of pepper sauce (Tabasco) (spicy substance) produced a strong burning to the tongue in 28 patients of the BMS group but only in 10 controls. No control patients showed abnormality of thyroid function or echograpic abnormality. Five patients in the BMS group had biochemical evidence of hypothyroidism, 4 patients had raised levels of thyroid auto-antibodies and, of the 41 remaining BMS patients, most (34) had thyroid echographic changes indicative of nodularity.
Hypothyroidism may be responsible for a negative influence on taste and consequent increase in trigeminal sensorial sensation (tactile, thermal and painful sensation).
灼口综合征（BMS）是一种慢性口腔内烧灼感，主要见于中年及绝经后女性，口腔内无明显病变或实验室检查异常，但常与抑郁症等精神障碍有关。后者可能有多种原因，包括激素方面的原因。
由于灼口综合征、精神状态改变、激素变化和味觉异常之间可能存在联系，我们对味觉和甲状腺功能方面进行了研究。
我们选取了50例灼口综合征患者（研究组）和50例健康受试者（对照组），分析他们对苦味、酸味和辣味物质的味觉能力，并分析他们的甲状腺功能，同时进行甲状腺超声检查。
所有对照组的味觉均正常。然而，30例灼口综合征患者报告对苦味味觉丧失，2例对酸味味觉丧失。在灼口综合征组中，28例患者使用辣椒酱（塔巴斯科辣椒酱，一种辣味物质）时舌头有强烈灼烧感，而对照组中只有10例有此感觉。对照组患者均未出现甲状腺功能异常或超声检查异常。灼口综合征组中有5例患者有甲状腺功能减退的生化证据，4例患者甲状腺自身抗体水平升高，在其余41例灼口综合征患者中，大多数（34例）有甲状腺超声改变，提示有结节。
甲状腺功能减退可能对味觉产生负面影响，进而导致三叉神经感觉（触觉、热觉和痛觉）增强。
