Guido D, Perna S, Carrai M, Barale R, Grassi M, Rondanelli M
Simone Perna, University of Pavia, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Section of Human Nutrition, Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Azienda di Servizi alla Persona, Pavia, Italy, Email:
J Nutr Health Aging. 2016;20(10):971-981. doi: 10.1007/s12603-016-0703-4.
This study, by taking a holistic approach, investigates the relationships between taste, smell sensitivity and food preference with prognostic (endogenous and health) factors including age, gender, genetic taste markers, body mass, cigarette smoking, and number of drugs used.
Cross sectional study.
Northern Italy.
203 healthy subjects (160 women/43 men; mean age: 58.2±19.8 years) were examined.
Individual taste sensitivity was determined by saccharose, sodium chloride, acetic acid and caffeine solutions and by 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) responsiveness test. Olfactory sensitivity has been assessed by «Sniffin' Sticks». Four tag Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in regions of interest were genotyped. Factor analysis and multivariate regression were performed for scaling food preferences and screening prognostic factors, respectively.
Increasing age is associated with decreased responsiveness to NaCl (P=0.001), sweet solutions (P=0.044), and smell perception (P<0.001). Concerning the food preferences, elderly like the "vegetables" and "fruits" but dislike "spicy" more than younger. Regarding number of drugs taken, there is a significant negative effect on smell perception (P<0.001). In addition, drugs reduce both the "vegetables foods" score (P=0.002) and the "milk-product foods" score (P=0.027). With respect to Body Mass Index (BMI), only a significant effect was shown, on sweet perception (P=0.006). Variation in taste receptor genes can give rise to differential perception of sweet, acid and bitter tastes. No effect of gender and smoking was observed.
Our study suggested that age, genetic markers, BMI and drugs use are the factors which affect taste and smell perception and food preferences.
本研究采用整体研究方法，探讨味觉、嗅觉敏感性和食物偏好与预后（内源性和健康）因素之间的关系，这些因素包括年龄、性别、遗传味觉标记、体重、吸烟情况以及用药数量。
横断面研究。
意大利北部。
对203名健康受试者（160名女性/43名男性；平均年龄：58.2±19.8岁）进行了检查。
通过蔗糖、氯化钠、醋酸和咖啡因溶液以及6-正丙基硫氧嘧啶（PROP）反应性测试来确定个体味觉敏感性。嗅觉敏感性通过“嗅觉棒”进行评估。对感兴趣区域的四个标签单核苷酸多态性（SNP）进行基因分型。分别进行因子分析和多元回归以衡量食物偏好和筛选预后因素。
年龄增长与对氯化钠（P=0.001）、甜味溶液（P=0.044）的反应性降低以及嗅觉感知能力下降（P<0.001）相关。关于食物偏好，老年人比年轻人更喜欢“蔬菜”和“水果”，但更不喜欢“辛辣”食物。就用药数量而言，对嗅觉感知有显著负面影响（P<0.001）。此外，药物会降低“蔬菜类食物”得分（P=0.002）和“奶制品类食物”得分（P=0.027）。关于体重指数（BMI），仅对甜味感知有显著影响（P=0.006）。味觉受体基因的变异会导致对甜味、酸味和苦味的不同感知。未观察到性别和吸烟的影响。
我们的研究表明，年龄、遗传标记、BMI和药物使用是影响味觉、嗅觉感知和食物偏好的因素。
