Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation, UMR6265 CNRS, UMR1324 INRA, Université de Bourgogne, Agrosup Dijon, 17 rue Sully, F-21000 Dijon, France.
Chem Senses. 2012 Jan;37(1):87-95. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjr070. Epub 2011 Aug 25.
The interindividual variation in the sensitivity to bitterness is attributed in part to genetic polymorphism at the taste receptor level, but other factors, such as saliva composition, might be involved. In order to investigate this, 2 groups of subjects (hyposensitive, hypersensitive) were selected from 29 healthy male volunteers based on their detection thresholds for caffeine, and their salivary proteome composition was compared. Abundance of 26 of the 255 spots detected on saliva electrophoretic patterns was significantly different between hypo- and hypersensitive subjects. Saliva of hypersensitive subjects contained higher levels of amylase fragments, immunoglobulins, and serum albumin and/or serum albumin fragments. It also contained lower levels of cystatin SN, an inhibitor of protease. The results suggest that proteolysis occurring within the oral cavity is an important perireceptor factor associated to the sensitivity to the bitter taste of caffeine.
个体对苦味的敏感性差异部分归因于味觉受体水平的遗传多态性，但其他因素，如唾液成分，也可能参与其中。为了研究这一点，根据对咖啡因的检测阈值，从 29 名健康男性志愿者中选择了 2 组受试者（低敏感组、高敏感组），并比较了他们的唾液蛋白质组组成。在唾液电泳图谱上检测到的 255 个斑点中，有 26 个斑点的丰度在低敏感组和高敏感组之间存在显著差异。高敏感组受试者的唾液中含有更高水平的淀粉酶片段、免疫球蛋白和/或血清白蛋白和/或血清白蛋白片段，同时也含有较低水平的蛋白酶抑制剂半胱氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂 SN。研究结果表明，口腔内发生的蛋白水解作用是与咖啡因苦味敏感性相关的重要受体前因素。
