Detection and recognition thresholds to the 4 basic tastes in Mexican patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome

Abstract

Background: Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory lymphocytic infiltration of the salivary glands, leading to dryness of the mouth (xerostomia). It has been postulated that xerostomia is the preceding stage for the development of alterations in taste acuity (dysgeusia) in this type of patients. Objectives: To determine detection and recognition thresholds to the 4 basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour and bitter) in pSS patients and compare them to a control group. To determine if the long-term consumption of chile peppers and spicy Mexican diets had an effect on the taste perception and acuity of the pSS patients. Interventions: Detection and recognition thresholds were determined by the method of least noticeable differences on three occasions during three nonconsecutive days. Saliva production was determined by Saxon's test on two separate occasions. Results: Although saliva production was severely reduced in pSS patients (1.3570.55 ml/2 min, Po0.001) compared to controls (6.2672.41 ml/2 min), all subjects recognized the 4 basic tastes when these were tested at suprathreshold concentrations. The detection thresholds for the sweet, sour and bitter tastes were higher in pSS patients, as well as the recognition thresholds for the salty, sour and bitter tastes. A relationship between time of evolution of the disease and saliva production with individual thresholds could not be established. Conclusions: pSS patients exhibited different degrees of dysgeusia depending on the taste being studied, that is, they were mildly dysgeusic for the sweet and salty tastes and clearly dysgeusic for the sour and bitter tastes. Although both pSS patients and controls had consumed 'typical Mexican diets' their entire lives, our results showed that the consumption of chile peppers and spicy foods did not have any effect on the taste perception and acuity of the pSS patients.

Defects in the Peripheral Taste Structure and Function in the MRL/lpr Mouse Model of Autoimmune Disease

“…About 77% of patients had at least one taste threshold below the 10th percentile of controls, and among these patients 78% had low sensitivity for two or more taste qualities [12]. A more recent report by Gomez et al (2004) also showed that Sjögren's syndrome patients were clearly hypogeusic for bitter and sour tastes and mildly hypogeusic for sweet and salty tastes [14]. Together, these human studies demonstrate that taste abnormalities can develop in this autoimmune disease.…”

“…Studies have shown that Sjögren's syndrome patients exhibit reduced sensitivities to bitter, sour, sweet, and salty taste compounds [12], [13], [14]. Henkin et al (1972) reported that 90% of Sjögren's syndrome patients in their study had bitter and sour detection and recognition thresholds elevated above the normal levels, whereas 72% and 38% of patients had salt and sweet thresholds above the normal levels, respectively [13].…”

“…Most Sjögren's syndrome patients experience reduced production of saliva, with accompanying dryness of the mouth. While proposed as a contributing factor in decreased taste sensitivity [13], low saliva production does not always show a direct correlation with taste loss in these patients [12], [14], [15]. Taste alterations also occur in other autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus [2], [9], but the taste impairment in these diseases has not been well characterized.…”

“…Sjögren's syndrome is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by the infiltration of immune cells into salivary and lacrimal glands [10], [11]. Sjögren's syndrome patients show decreased taste sensitivity for bitter, sour, salty, and sweet compounds [12], [13], [14]. Most Sjögren's syndrome patients experience reduced production of saliva, with accompanying dryness of the mouth.…”

Human Taste Thresholds Are Modulated by Serotonin and Noradrenaline

“…Low concentrations of one tastant may be misidentified as another (Pilkova et al, 1991); to avoid this potential confounding effect, subjects were informed as to the taste stimulus. In addition, detection thresholds (i.e., the ability to detect the presence of a tastant, rather than what the taste is), although often lower than recognition thresholds, are also more variable between subjects (Gomez et al, 2004). Tastants were applied in solution to the tip of the tongue, using a cotton bud saturated with the solution at room temperature, and placed on the tongue for ϳ5 s (Prutkin et al, 1999).…”