Sharma K, Sharma P, Sharma A, Singh G
Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
J Laryngol Otol. 2008 Oct;122(10):1064-73. doi: 10.1017/S0022215107001442. Epub 2008 Feb 5.
This study is the first attempt to link quantified phenylthiocarbamide bitter taste recognition threshold with susceptibility to motion sickness.
The study was conducted on a sample of 291 teenage Rajput children (146 males and 145 females; age range 13-19 years) from the Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Phenylthiocarbamide taste sensitivity was measured by administering a serial dilution of a freshly prepared phenylthiocarbamide solution, following the method of Harris and Kalmus. Motion sickness susceptibility was assessed retrospectively via interview.
About 40 per cent of the subjects had experienced motion sickness in the past. The mean and standard deviation of phenylthiocarbamide taste thresholds in non-tasters and tasters were 0.83 +/- 0.87 and 7.98 +/- 1.86, respectively. A bimodal distribution test (D/S) index of 5.24 confirmed bimodality of phenylthiocarbamide taste threshold distribution. The Mann-Whitney U test rejected the null hypothesis of mu 1 = mu 2 and thus confirmed the existence of differences in the distributions of phenylthiocarbamide taste threshold between individuals susceptible and not susceptible to motion sickness. Individuals susceptible to motion sickness had lower mean and median taste thresholds, indicating higher phenylthiocarbamide taste sensitivity, compared with non-susceptible individuals. The frequency of non-tasters was about 10 per cent in both motion sickness susceptible and non-susceptible individuals. The simple division of phenylthiocarbamide tasting ability into tasters and non-tasters was a less sensitive criterion with which to measure the association of this ability with motion sickness susceptibility. However, further differentiation of tasters into weak threshold, medium threshold and super threshold ('supersensitive') tasters clearly revealed a highly significantly increased risk of motion sickness in super threshold tasters (i.e. threshold solution number >or=12). The ratio of motion sickness susceptible individuals to non-susceptible individuals was 1:1.7 for non-tasters (threshold solution numbers zero to three) and weak and medium tasters (threshold solution numbers four to 11), but the trend was reversed for super threshold tasters (threshold solution numbers 12 and 13), in whom the ratio was 2:1.
Individuals exhibiting greater phenylthiocarbamide taste acuity (i.e. supersensitive tasters) had a higher susceptibility to motion sickness than did non-, weak and medium phenylthiocarbamide tasters, as measured in terms of their taste thresholds (i.e. threshold solution numbers zero to 11).
本研究首次尝试将定量的苯硫脲苦味识别阈值与晕动病易感性联系起来。
该研究以来自印度喜马偕尔邦锡尔莫尔区的291名青少年拉杰普特儿童（146名男性和145名女性；年龄范围13 - 19岁）为样本。按照哈里斯和卡尔穆斯的方法，通过给予新配制的苯硫脲溶液系列稀释液来测量苯硫脲味觉敏感性。通过访谈回顾性评估晕动病易感性。
约40%的受试者过去曾经历过晕动病。非尝味者和尝味者的苯硫脲味觉阈值的均值和标准差分别为0.83±0.87和7.98±1.86。双峰分布检验（D/S）指数为5.24，证实了苯硫脲味觉阈值分布的双峰性。曼 - 惠特尼U检验拒绝了μ1 = μ2的零假设，从而证实了易患晕动病和不易患晕动病个体之间苯硫脲味觉阈值分布存在差异。与不易患晕动病的个体相比，易患晕动病的个体平均味觉阈值和中位数味觉阈值更低，表明其对苯硫脲的味觉敏感性更高。在易患晕动病和不易患晕动病的个体中尝味者的比例均约为10%。将苯硫脲尝味能力简单分为尝味者和非尝味者，对于衡量这种能力与晕动病易感性之间的关联是一个不太敏感的标准。然而，将尝味者进一步细分为低阈值、中阈值和高阈值（“超敏感”）尝味者，清楚地表明高阈值尝味者（即阈值溶液编号≥12）患晕动病的风险显著增加。对于非尝味者（阈值溶液编号为零至三）以及低阈值和中阈值尝味者（阈值溶液编号为四至十一），易患晕动病个体与不易患晕动病个体的比例为1:1.7，但对于高阈值尝味者（阈值溶液编号为12和13），这一趋势相反，比例为2:1。
以味觉阈值（即阈值溶液编号为零至十一）衡量，表现出更高苯硫脲味觉敏锐度（即超敏感尝味者）的个体比非苯硫脲尝味者、低阈值和中阈值尝味者更容易患晕动病。
