Inflammation-mediated changes in taste perception can affect health outcomes in patients, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. In the present work, we hypothesized that proinflammatory cytokines directly modulate Na(+) transport in taste buds. To test this, we measured acute changes in Na(+) flux in polarized fungiform taste buds loaded with a Na(+) indicator dye. IL-1β elicited...

Ion exchange resins are water-insoluble, cross-linked polymers containing salt-forming groups in repeating positions on the polymer chain. Bitter cationic drugs get adsorbed on to weak cationic exchange resins of carboxylic acid functionality like Indion 204, Indion 234 and Tulsion 335 to forms non-bitter complexes. The present investigation aims at taste masking of the bitter clarithromycin us...

Animals develop robust learning and long lasting taste aversion memory once they experience a new taste that is followed by visceral discomfort. A large body of literature has supported the hypothesis that basolateral amygdala (BLA) plays a critical role in the acquisition and extinction of such conditioned taste aversions (CTA). Despite the evidence that BLA is crucially engaged during CTA tra...

The unique taste of umami argues for a specific receptor at the taste cell level. The taste synergism between monosodium glutamate (MSG) and certain 59-ribonucleotides provides a pharmacologic test for hypothetical mechanisms of umami taste. Early neurophysiologic and biochemical studies demonstrated specific recognition of L-glutamate by taste tissue and suggested that the synergism found with...

AIMS To determine the threshold index of sweet and salty tastes in alcoholics undergoing treatment. METHODS Taste threshold was assessed using type 3-Alternative Forced Choice in a control group (92 non-alcoholic volunteers) and a test group (92 alcoholics in therapy). The test group completed a structured questionnaire on lifestyle and habits. RESULTS Significant difference were found betw...

We investigated the neural processing of binary gustatory mixtures of amino acids by the facial taste system of the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. In vivo electrophysiological recordings indicated that the magnitude of both integrated and single-unit facial taste responses to binary mixtures of amino acids was greatest if the components bound to independent receptor sites. Facial taste r...

Experimental methods were used to examine consumer willingness-to-pay for steak tenderness in a grocery store setting. When relying on a taste test alone to determine product quality, the participants paid an average premium of $1.23/lb for a tender versus tough steak. Fifty-one percent of the participants were willing to pay an average of $1.84/lb when they had completed a taste test and were ...

Sensory science is a scientifi c method used to “measure, analyze, and interpret human responses to products as perceived through their senses of touch, taste, sight, smell, or sound.” Sensory science is often used to improve existing products or to test people’s views on new products, such as the softness of tissues, the crunchiness of an apple variety, or the aroma of air fresheners. It is al...

Sensory ganglia that innervate taste buds and gustatory papillae (geniculate and petrosal) are reduced in volume by about 40% in mice with a targeted deletion of the gene for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In contrast, the trigeminal ganglion, which innervates papillae but not taste buds on the anterior tongue, is reduced by only about 18%. These specific alterations in ganglia that ...

Nonreinforced exposure to a cue tends to attenuate subsequent conditioning with that cue-an effect referred to as latent inhibition (LI). In the two experiments reported here, we examined LI effects in the context of conditioned taste aversion by examining both the amount of consumption and the microstructure of the consummatory behavior (in terms of the mean size of lick clusters). The latter ...