Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
R&D Division, Vetagro S.p.A., Via Porro 2, 42124 Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Molecules. 2024 Sep 28;29(19):4613. doi: 10.3390/molecules29194613.
The gustatory system is responsible for detecting and evaluating the palatability of the various chemicals present in food and beverages. Taste bud cells, located primarily on the tongue, communicate with the gustatory sensory neurons by means of neurochemical signals, transmitting taste information to the brain. It has also been found that the endocannabinoid system (ECS) may modulate food intake and palatability, and that taste bud cells express cannabinoid receptors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of cannabinoid and cannabinoid-related receptors in the gustatory cells of the papillae vallatae and foliatae of ten piglets. Specific antibodies against the cannabinoid receptors (CB1R and CB2R), G protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55), transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) were applied on cryosections of lingual tissue; the lingual tissue was also processed using Western blot analysis. Cannabinoid and cannabinoid-related receptors were found to be expressed in the taste bud cells and the surrounding epithelial cells. The extra-papillary epithelium also showed strong immunolabeling for these receptors. The results showed that these receptors were present in both the taste bud cells and the extra-gustatory epithelial cells, indicating their potential role in taste perception and chemesthesis. These findings contributed to understanding the complex interactions between cannabinoids and the gustatory system, highlighting the role of the ECS within taste perception and its potential use in animal production in order to enhance food intake.
味觉系统负责检测和评估食物和饮料中各种化学物质的口感。味蕾细胞主要位于舌头上，通过神经化学信号与味觉感觉神经元进行通讯，将味觉信息传递到大脑。此外，内源性大麻素系统 (ECS) 可能调节食物摄入和口感，而味蕾细胞表达大麻素受体。本研究旨在研究 10 头仔猪的味蕾和叶状乳头中的味觉细胞中大麻素和大麻素相关受体的表达。针对大麻素受体 (CB1R 和 CB2R)、G 蛋白偶联受体 55 (GPR55)、瞬时受体电位香草酸 1 (TRPV1) 和锚蛋白 1 (TRPA1) 的特异性抗体被应用于舌组织的冷冻切片上；还对舌组织进行了 Western blot 分析。在味觉细胞和周围的上皮细胞中发现了大麻素和大麻素相关受体。额外的乳头上皮也显示出这些受体的强烈免疫标记。结果表明，这些受体存在于味觉细胞和非味觉上皮细胞中，表明它们在味觉感知和化学感觉中的潜在作用。这些发现有助于理解大麻素和味觉系统之间的复杂相互作用，突出了 ECS 在味觉感知中的作用及其在动物生产中的潜在用途，以提高食物摄入。
