Bossola Maurizio, Cadoni Gabriella, Bellantone Rocco, Carriero Concetta, Carriero Elena, Ottaviani Fabrizio, Borzomati Domenico, Tortorelli Antonio, Doglietto Giovan Battista
Department of Surgical Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
J Pain Symptom Manage. 2007 Nov;34(5):505-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2006.12.013. Epub 2007 Jul 5.
Changes in the taste of food have been implicated as a potential cause of reduced dietary intake among cancer patients. However, data on intensity and hedonic responses to the four basic tastes in cancer are scanty and contradictory. The present study aimed at evaluating taste intensity and hedonic responses to simple beverages in 47 anorectic patients affected by gastrointestinal cancer and in 55 healthy subjects. Five suprathreshold concentrations of each of the four test substances (sucrose in black current drinks, citric acid in lemonade, NaCl in unsalted tomato juice, and urea in tonic water) were used. Patients were invited to express a judgment of intensity and pleasantness ranging from 0 to 10. Mean intensity scores directly correlated with concentrations of sour, salty, bitter, and sweet stimuli, in both normals and those with cancer. Intensity judgments were higher in cancer patients with respect to sweet (for median and high concentrations, P<0.05), salty (for all concentrations, P<0.05), and bitter tastes (for median concentration, P<0.01). Hedonic function increased with the increase of the stimuli only for the sweet taste. A negative linear correlation was found between sour, bitter, and salty concentrations and hedonic score. Both in cancer patients and in healthy subjects, hedonic judgments increased with the increase of the stimulus for the sweet taste (r=0.978 and r=0.985, P=0.004 and P=0.002, respectively), and decreased for the salty (r=-0.827 and r=-0.884, P=0.084 and P=0.047, respectively) and bitter tastes (r=-0.990 and r=-0.962, P=0.009 and P=0.001, respectively). For the sour taste, the hedonic scores remained stable with the increase of the stimulus in noncancer controls (r=-0.785, P=0.115) and decreased in cancer patients (r=-0.996, P=0.0001). The hedonic scores for the sweet taste and the bitter taste were similar in cancer patients and healthy subjects, and these scores were significantly higher in cancer patients than in healthy subjects for most of the concentrations of the salty taste and all the concentrations of the sour taste. The present study suggests that cancer patients, compared to healthy individuals, have a normal sensitivity, a normal liking for pleasant stimuli, and a decreased dislike for unpleasant stimuli. Moreover, when compared to controls, they show higher hedonic scores for middle and high concentrations of the salty taste and for all concentrations of the sour taste. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether these changes observed in cancer patients translate into any alteration in dietary behavior and/or food preferences.
食物味道的变化被认为是癌症患者饮食摄入量减少的一个潜在原因。然而，关于癌症患者对四种基本味道的强度和享乐反应的数据稀少且相互矛盾。本研究旨在评估47名受胃肠道癌症影响的厌食患者和55名健康受试者对简单饮料的味道强度和享乐反应。使用了四种测试物质（黑加仑饮料中的蔗糖、柠檬汁中的柠檬酸、无盐番茄汁中的氯化钠和奎宁水中的尿素）的五个阈上浓度。邀请患者对强度和愉悦度进行0至10的评分。正常人和癌症患者中，酸味、咸味、苦味和甜味刺激的平均强度得分与浓度直接相关。癌症患者对甜味（中浓度和高浓度时，P<0.05）、咸味（所有浓度时，P<0.05）和苦味（中浓度时，P<0.01）的强度判断更高。享乐功能仅对甜味随刺激增加而增加。酸味、苦味和咸味浓度与享乐得分之间呈负线性相关。在癌症患者和健康受试者中，甜味刺激增加时享乐判断均增加（分别为r=0.978和r=0.985，P=0.004和P=0.002），咸味（分别为r=-0.827和r=-0.884，P=0.084和P=0.047）和苦味（分别为r=-0.990和r=-0.962，P=0.009和P=0.001）刺激增加时享乐判断均降低。对于酸味，在非癌症对照组中享乐得分随刺激增加保持稳定（r=-0.785，P=0.115），在癌症患者中降低（r=-0.996，P=0.0001）。癌症患者和健康受试者中甜味和苦味的享乐得分相似，对于大多数咸味浓度和所有酸味浓度，癌症患者的这些得分显著高于健康受试者。本研究表明，与健康个体相比，癌症患者具有正常的敏感性、对愉悦刺激的正常喜好以及对不愉快刺激的厌恶减少。此外，与对照组相比，他们对中高浓度咸味和所有浓度酸味的享乐得分更高。需要进一步研究以评估在癌症患者中观察到的这些变化是否转化为饮食行为和/或食物偏好的任何改变。
