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Pungent qualities of sanshool-related compounds evaluated by a sensory test and activation of rat TRPV1.

The detection threshold and taste characteristics of sanshools were examined by sensory evaluation, after isolating four sanshools (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-), and two hydroxy sanshools (alpha- and beta-) from the pericarp of Japanese pepper. The Scoville unit (SU) values of the four sanshools were in the range of 80,000-110,000, while those of hydroxy sanshools were 3-5 fold lower than corresponding sanshools. The pungent qualities of each sanshool were different. Burning and tingling were predominantly perceived and lasted for the longest time with alpha-sanshool. Burning and fresh for gamma-sanshool, and tingling and numbing for hydroxy alpha-sanshool were perceived. Tests on the activation of rat TRPV1 were also performed. All of them were weak agonists. Among them, gamma-sanshool was the most potent agonist, although its EC50 value of 5.3 microM was 230 fold higher than that of capsaicin. These results indicate that it would be difficult to explain the pungent quality of each sanshool simply in terms of TRPV1 activation.

Adult↗

The relative importance of genetic and environmental factors in hypertension in black subjects.

Essential hypertension is the most important cardiovascular disease in black subjects. The types of presentation, the pattern of organ involvement and the subsequent complications are similar in black races. The response (or lack of response) to different types of treatment are also alike in blacks when compared with caucasians. Striking racial differences are observed in the plasma and intracellular electrolytes, cation transmembrane transport, salt taste threshold, plasma renin activity and urinary kallikrein activity. The similarities within the black racial groups are very likely to be genetic, although the pattern of inheritance remains controversial. Differences, however, occur in the prevalence and severity of the disease among the black racial groups. That these differences are due partly to environmental causes can not be disputed because even within the same ethnic groups changing patterns are observed in the prevalence of hypertension, in the course of urbanization of rural communities, or on moving from a previously rural to an urban environment. Consequently, genetic factors may be the only important considerations in the severity of hypertension in black subjects.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

Hypertension in Africa and effectiveness of its management with various classes of antihypertensive drugs and in different socio-economic and cultural environments.

Hypertension is the commonest cardiovascular disease in Africans occurring in more than 15% of the adult population in some studies. It occurs in the lower as much as in the higher socio-economic groups. Recent studies have confirmed earlier findings that essential hypertension in Africans is characterised by volume loading, low plasma renin activity, high salt taste threshold, high urinary sodium and low potassium excretion and high plasma aldosterone. The commonest complication of hypertension in Africans is congestive cardiac failure followed by cerebrovascular accidents. Coronary heart disease is rare. Even in the absence of overt heart failure and compounding factors like obesity, alcoholism, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus and myocarditis, evidence of abnormal left ventricular morphology and function is often present in newly diagnosed patients with moderate or severe hypertension. Response to monotherapy with beta-blockers or ACE inhibitors is usually poor but is good with thiazide diuretics or calcium channel blockers. The diuretics are an essential component of a two or three drug regime containing other classes of antihypertensive drugs. Cost of drugs is the most important determinant of compliance with drug treatment and consequently the likelihood of progression of the diseases to more severe forms in long term follow-up.

Africa↗

[Olfactory and gustatory disorders--causes, diagnosis and treatment].

Olfactory and gustatory disorders are by no means uncommon, and may be associated with an appreciable impairment of the patient's quality of life. In many cases, diagnosis and treatment is not easy, and necessitates interdisciplinary cooperation between the general practitioner, internist, ENT specialist, neurologist and psychiatrist. Many of the non-evidence-based treatments still applied in hospitals and the physician's office should, for reasons of quality control and to avoid polypragmasy possibly associated with undesirable side effects, be employed with reservations. With reference to the guidelines issued by the working group Olfactologie/Gustologie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für HNO-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie (Olfactology/Gustology of the German Society of ENT Medicine, Head and Neck Surgery), a review of the causes, diagnosis and treatment of olfactory and gustatory disorders [3,4] is presented.

Ageusia↗

[Interaction between food texture and dental health].

The consistency is one of the sensoric properties of a food item and forms the origin of texture. The texture of a food item can be distinguished in hardness, toughness, stickiness, juiciness and chewability. The consistency of food items may influence dental health. It is suggested that hard food cleans the teeth. The chewing pattern depends on the texture of the masticated food. Hard and tough food require a more horizontal movement of the lower jaw, contrary to soft and tender food which mainly require a vertical movement. An adequate food texture contributes to the acceptability and the preference of food.

Food↗

[Effect of the incorporation of additives on the aging of corn starch gels and "arepas"].

This research was carried out to investigate the effect of the incorporation of various additives on the ageing of corn starch and arepas. Starches were extracted from the endosperm of degerminated corn by a wet milling process, and its retrogradation, with or without the incorporation of additives was evaluated using the Brabender amilograph and by measuring the viscosity changes of the starch gels through time, using a Brookfield viscometer model RVT. The most effective additives in retarding the rate of ageing of starch gels, were used in the arepas. Likewise, trained panelists were utilized to find the levels of the additives incorporated in the arepas, by running taste threshold tests for each one of the additives. Textural changes of the arepas--maintained at two different storage temperatures, 9 degrees and 23 degrees C--were evaluated using an Instron texturometer. Preliminary tests with the corn starch allowed to choose the following additives: distilled monoglicerides, guar gum and hydrogenated vegetable oil. The effect of 15 different combinations of these additives on the texture of arepas was then studied, and findings revealed that only three of them were able to totally revert the retrogradation process, and maintain the hardness and elasticity within the expected range of a fresh-made arepa, when this is reheated until reaching a maximum temperature of 49 degrees C. A 66% of the hardening of the arepas prepared without additives can be reverted with the reheating process, but only if the product has not suffered dehydration. When stored for 24 hours at room temperature, unpacked arepas have a surface moisture loss of 47%, and even if reheated, hardening becomes irreversible in 84.6% of them.

Food Additives↗

Effects of cortical, hypothalamic, and hippocampal lesions on chronic alcohol intake and preference in rats.

The effects of cortical, hippocampal, and suprachiasmatic (hypothalamic) lesions on forced alcohol consumption, alcohol preference and the distribution of alcohol intake throughout the day were examined in rats. Controls included by hypothalamic sham-operated and unoperated groups. Baseline water intake during light and dark and initial alcohol preference (10% alcohol versus water) were determined. All animals then were placed on a forced alcohol consumption regimen consisting of ad lib lab-chow and 10% ethanol in water. On the sixth day of each week during the alcoholization regimen, light and dark phase alcohol intake was assessed and on the seventh day of each week, a 24-hr, two-bottle alcohol preference test (10% ethanol) was given. After nine weeks on the forced alcohol regimen, all animals were given a seven day "withdrawal" period consisting of access to plain water and to 10% alcohol in water. Throughout both the forced alcoholization and withdrawal periods, the lesioned groups, especially the cortically lesioned group, displayed a significantly greater preference for the 10% alcohol solution than any of the control groups. Control and lesion groups did not differ significantly in their preference for a 5% alcohol solution or for a quinine solution, suggesting that simple taste threshold changes probably would not account for these data. The results are discussed in terms of the possibility that the brain lesions may have rendered the animals more sensitive to the "addictive" and/or reinforcing properties of ethanol.

Alcohol Drinking↗

[Effect of tobacco smoking on taste sensitivity in adults].

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the tobacco smoking on taste sensitivity in healthy adults. The study involved healthy subjects, aged 30 to 60 years. The experimental group consisted of 28 smoking subjects; the control group consisted of 33 non smokers. The ability to recognize four basic types of taste and thresholds for detection of sweet and salty taste were determined in this study. The measurement of taste thresholds were carried out by electrogustometry. The obtained results have been found higher thresholds for detection of salty taste in smokers compared with control subjects (p<0.05). We estimated that such tastes as: sweet, salty, sour have been recognized by smokers weaker and their sensitivity of tongue receptors to electric stimulus was slightly lowered than nonsmokers.

Adult↗

Relationships between ingestion and gustatory perception of caffeine.

We observed that taste detection thresholds for caffeine (CAF) are elevated in habitual CAF users relative to nonusers. A series of experiments were carried out to explore that relationship and assess the influences of salivary CAF and acute vs. chronic CAF ingestion. A significant correlation between CAF ingestion and taste threshold was noted in two studies of U.S. adults, although this was not observed in a parallel study involving an Argentinean population. Acute CAF ingestion (5.5 mg/kg) had no appreciable effect on taste thresholds. Threshold values greatly exceeded even peak salivary CAF levels, indicating that classical taste adaptation was an unlikely influence. Chronic CAF ingestion (450 mg/day for 3 weeks) also had no consistent effect on taste thresholds for CAF or other taste stimuli. Although a number of explanations are considered, we suggest that the sensory phenomenon may reflect preexisting differences between CAF users and nonusers or perhaps an effect of exposure to other bitter and/or CAF-containing foods and beverages.

Adult↗

Taste perception with age: generic or specific losses in supra-threshold intensities of five taste qualities?

The influence of ageing on supra-threshold intensity perception of NaCl, KCl, sucrose, aspartame, acetic acid, citric acid, caffeine, quinine HCl, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) dissolved in water and in 'regular' product was studied in 21 young (19-33 years) and 21 elderly (60-75 years) persons. While the relative perception (intensity discrimination) seems to be remarkably resistant to the effect of ageing, the absolute perception (intensity rating) decreased with age for all tastants in water, but only for the salty and sweet tastants in product. When assessed while wearing a nose clip, only the perception of salty tastants was diminished with age. The slopes of the psychophysical functions were flatter in the elderly than in the young for the sweet, bitter and umami tastants in water, and for the sour tastants in product only. The age effects found were almost exclusively generic and never compound-specific within a taste. This study indicates that the relevance of determining intensities of tastants dissolved in water for the 'real life' perception of taste in complex food is rather limited.

Adult↗

Taste perception with age: generic or specific losses in threshold sensitivity to the five basic tastes?

Detection thresholds for NaCl, KCl, sucrose, aspartame, acetic acid, citric acid, caffeine, quinine HCl, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) were assessed in 21 young (19-33 years) and 21 elderly (60-75 years) persons by taking the average of six ascending two-alternative forced choice tests. A significant overall effect was found for age, but not for gender. However, an interaction effect of age and gender was found. The older men were less sensitive than the young men and women for acetic acid, sucrose, citric acid, sodium and potassium chloride and IMP. To detect the compound dissolved in water they needed a 1.32 (aspartame) to 5.70 times (IMP) higher concentration than the younger subjects. A significant decline in thresholds with replication was shown. The age effect found could be attributed predominantly to a generic taste loss.

Acetic Acid↗

[Threshold for electric stimulation of taste in diabetes mellitus].

This paper informs about the electrogustometrically determined stimulus-threshold of gustation in 82 patients with diabetes mellitus in comparison with a group of 107 non-diabetics without disturbance of gustation. The stimulation of the tongue was performed with a unipolar electrode switches as a cathode. The electric impulse was measured in microA and the threshold was found to increase with age, in general. In both groups the thresholds tend to higher values in males in contrast to females as well as smokers opposed to non-smokers. With references to the control group the diabetics showed higher values in the electric taste threshold (statistically significant with P = 0.1%). It was noticed that in the diabetics at the tip of the tongue a higher threshold was present than at the margins of the tongue, being in the inverse ratio to the control group and to normal.

Adult↗

Salt taste sensitivity and blood pressure in adolescent school children in southern Nigeria.

This cross-sectional study was undertaken to observe the relationship between taste recognition threshold for NaCl (salt taste sensitivity) and blood pressure (BP) prior to the onset of clinical hypertension. The study involved 160 girls and 159 boys aged ten through seventeen years. Three hundred and nineteen (35%) of the total population were relatively insensitive to NaCl taste (defined as threshold value > or = 60mM NaCl). In this, there was significant gender difference (chi 2 = 9.66, df = 2, p = 0.022) in the distribution of salt taste sensitivity, with more boys than girls having higher threshold values (> or = 60mM NaCl). In addition, a highly significant (p = 0.0103) but weak association (r = 0.1439) between salt taste sensitivity, and systolic BP was evident after adjustment for other confounding variables. This finding appears fairly specific for NaCl sensitivity, as no systematic relationship between any of the individuals parameters of BP (that is systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressures) and threshold values for sucrose, urea and HCl was apparent. Overall, however, the bulk of the data does not support a major role for NaCl taste sensitivity in the determination of BP levels in this group of Nigerian adolescents. Rather, height and gender were the most important factors that influenced BP.

Adolescent↗

Some basic psychophysics of calcium salt solutions.

Detection thresholds and the taste qualities of suprathreshold concentrations of calcium salt solutions were assessed. Average taste detection thresholds for calcium chloride (CaCl2), lactate (CaLa), hydroxide, phosphate and gluconate ranged between 8 and 50 mM, with no reliable differences among the various salts. Between-subject variability ranged over four orders of magnitude and reliability coefficients for repeated detection threshold tests of CaCl2 averaged r = 0.52. In an odor detection test, subjects could reliably discriminate 100 but not 1 mM CaCl2 and CaLa from water. The taste of suprathreshold concentrations (1-100 mM) of CaCl2 and CaLa was considered unpleasant. At 1 mM, CaCl2 solution was rated as 35% bitter, 32% sour, 29% sweet and 4% salty. At higher concentrations the sweet component diminished and the salty component increased, so that 100 mM CaCl2 was rated as 44% bitter, 20% sour, 1% sweet and 35% salty. CaLa solutions were considered to be significantly less bitter and marginally more sour than equimolar CaCl2 solutions. Thus, the taste of calcium varied with both the form and concentration of salt tested, but included both sour and bitter components. Saltiness was identified only in high (> or = 32 mM) concentrations of CaCl2, and thus was not necessarily a component of calcium taste.

Adult↗

The effect of naltrexone on taste detection and recognition threshold.

Eighteen healthy female volunteers were administered 50 mg naltrexone in a double-blind, placebo control study. Relative taste detection and recognition thresholds for sweet, salty, sour and bitter taste and liking for and perception of sucrose solutions were determined at baseline and 1 hour after administration of naltrexone. Naltrexone did not alter relative taste detection and recognition thresholds for any of the four tastes or perception of sweetness. However, a significant, but slight, decrease in liking for sucrose solutions occurred after naltrexone administration. These findings suggest that opioid-dependent intake is independent of changes in taste perception in humans.

Adult↗

Facial responses to four basic tastes in newborn rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Newborn humans are known to show specific facial expressions in response to various kinds of taste stimuli and are presumed to be able to discriminate those kinds of tastes from just after birth. As the closest relatives to humans, the taste reactivity (threshold, preference and taste-elicited facial expression) of non-human primates has long been of great interest. To date, however, there have been few investigations in newborn non-human primates. In the present study, we investigated the facial expressions elicited in response to four basic taste stimuli, sweet, salty, sour and bitter, in the newborns of two non-human primate species, rhesus macaques and chimpanzees. The taste-elicited facial expressions were compared among the kinds of taste stimuli and between the two species. Rhesus macaques of less than 7 days old showed different patterns of facial expressions for water/sweet than for bitter, and chimpanzees less than 30 days old did so for sweet and bitter. The differences between these two species were evident in the presence and absence of certain facial expressions and the emerging patterns of certain components for each stimulus. In particular, chimpanzee response patterns to the bitter stimulus resembled to those of humans rather than rhesus macaques. Overall, rhesus macaques and chimpanzees responded differently to the same kinds of tastes, presumably reflecting differences in their evolutionary backgrounds.

Animals↗