Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, CA, I 09042, Italy.
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Cagliari, Piazza d'Armi, Cagliari, CA, I 09123, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 11;7:40353. doi: 10.1038/srep40353.
Practical and reliable methods for the objective measure of taste function are critically important for studying eating behavior and taste function impairment. Here, we present direct measures of human gustatory response to a prototypical bitter compound, 6-n-propyltiouracil (PROP), obtained by electrophysiological recordings from the tongue of subjects who were classified for taster status and genotyped for the specific receptor gene (TAS2R38), and in which taste papilla density was determined. PROP stimulation evoked negative slow potentials that represent the summated depolarization of taste cells. Depolarization amplitude and rate were correlated with papilla density and perceived bitterness, and associated with taster status and TAS2R38. Our study provides a robust and generalizable research tool for the quantitative measure of peripheral taste function, which can greatly help to resolve controversial outcomes on the PROP phenotype role in taste perception and food preferences, and be potentially useful for evaluating nutritional status and health.
对于研究饮食行为和味觉功能障碍，实用且可靠的味觉功能客观测量方法至关重要。在这里，我们通过对味觉受体基因（TAS2R38）进行分类和基因分型的受试者舌部的电生理记录，提供了对典型苦味化合物 6-正丙基硫氧嘧啶（PROP）的人类味觉反应的直接测量，其中还确定了味觉乳头密度。PROP 刺激会引起负慢电位，代表味觉细胞的总和去极化。去极化幅度和速率与乳突密度和感知的苦味有关，并与味觉状态和 TAS2R38 相关。我们的研究为外周味觉功能的定量测量提供了一种强大且可推广的研究工具，这将极大地有助于解决关于 PROP 表型在味觉感知和食物偏好中的作用的争议结果，并可能有助于评估营养状况和健康状况。
