Saito Takehisa, Ito Tetsufumi, Ito Yumi, Manabe Yasuhiro, Sano Kazuo
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
Research and Education Program for Life Science, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
Eur J Oral Sci. 2017 Feb;125(1):44-48. doi: 10.1111/eos.12329.
The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the gustatory function and average number of taste buds per fungiform papilla (FP) in humans. Systemically healthy volunteers (n = 211), pre-operative patients with chronic otitis media (n = 79), and postoperative patients, with or without a chorda tympani nerve (CTN) severed during middle ear surgery (n = 63), were included. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was employed to observe fungiform taste buds because it allows many FP to be observed non-invasively in a short period of time. Taste buds in an average of 10 FP in the midlateral region of the tongue were counted. In total, 3,849 FP were observed in 353 subjects. The gustatory function was measured by electrogustometry (EGM). An inverse relationship was found between the gustatory function and average number of fungiform taste buds per papilla. The healthy volunteers showed a lower EGM threshold (better gustatory function) and had more taste buds than did the patients with otitis media, and the patients with otitis media showed a lower EGM threshold and had more taste buds than did postoperative patients, reflecting the severity of damage to the CTN. It was concluded that the confocal laser scanning microscope is a very useful tool for using to observe a large number of taste buds non-invasively.
本研究的目的是阐明人类味觉功能与每个菌状乳头（FP）平均味蕾数量之间的关系。纳入了全身健康的志愿者（n = 211）、慢性中耳炎术前患者（n = 79）以及中耳手术中鼓索神经（CTN）切断或未切断的术后患者（n = 63）。采用共聚焦激光扫描显微镜观察菌状味蕾，因为它能在短时间内无创地观察多个FP。对舌中外侧区域平均10个FP中的味蕾进行计数。总共在353名受试者中观察到3849个FP。通过电味觉测量法（EGM）测量味觉功能。发现味觉功能与每个乳头的菌状味蕾平均数量呈负相关。健康志愿者的EGM阈值较低（味觉功能较好），且味蕾数量比中耳炎患者多，中耳炎患者的EGM阈值比术后患者低，且味蕾数量更多，这反映了CTN损伤的严重程度。得出的结论是，共聚焦激光扫描显微镜是一种非常有用的工具，可用于无创观察大量味蕾。
