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Differential temperature dependence of taste nerve responses to various taste stimuli in dogs and rats.

The temperature dependence of the canine and rat chorda tympani nerve responses to various taste stimuli was examined. The temperature dependence greatly varied with species of stimuli. In the dog, the tonic responses to fructose, sucrose, acetic acid, and guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP) and the response induced by the synergism between monosodium glutamate (MSG) and GMP showed peaks at approximately 30 degrees C, whereas those to NaCl, NH4Cl, and MSG showed peaks between 10 and 20 degrees C. In the rat, the tonic response to NH4Cl increased with an increase in temperature up to 45 degrees C, whereas the responses to other stimuli examined showed peaks at approximately 30 degrees C. The responses to glycine, sucrose, and quinine showed sharp temperature dependence, and the responses to acids (HCl and acetic acid) and salts (NaCl and KCl) showed relatively flat dependence. The effects of the temperature change on dose-response curves for fructose, NH4Cl, and GMP were examined using dogs. The temperature change did not practically affect the thresholds for these stimuli and affected the magnitude of the responses to higher concentrations of stimuli. The origins of the temperature dependence were discussed in terms of taste receptor mechanisms.

Acetates↗

The Temporal Automated System for Taste Experiments (TASTE).

We describe a new, open flow device for presenting taste stimuli to human subjects under controlled conditions of timing. The device delivers each stimulus as a mist to the participant's tongue through one of 16 nozzles attached to a linear slide. Software controls the position of the slide, the duration of the stimulus, and the duration of the pre- and poststimulus water rinses and records the responses of the participant. Temporal characteristics of this system make it especially applicable to studies on the role of attention in taste perception.

Attention↗

Mixtures of substances with similar tastes. A test of a psychophysical model of taste mixture interactions.

When substances of similar taste are mixed, the mixture can show suppression or synergism. That is, the perceived intensity of the mixture can be less than or greater than the sum of the perceived intensities of the components. In the present study, these departures from simple additivity could be predicted from the psychophysical functions relating tast intensity to stimulus concentration of the unmixed components. Psychophysical functions are said to show compression when successive increments in concentration produce progessively smaller increments in perceived intensity and to show expansion when successive increments in concentration produce progressively larger increments in perceived intensity. Suppression resulted from mixtures of substances with compressed psychophysical functions, and synergism resulted from mixtures of substances with expanded functions.

Adult↗

[Psychophysics of sweet taste. II. Statistical theory of the stimulus-response behavior of sweet taste receptors].

Considering various conditions of adaptation, the authors determined the Weber discrimination thresholds for the sweet taste of saccharose. When the adaptation to the basic stimulus is maintained and use is made of the differential coefficient behaviour, the discrimination threshold is an exponential function of the concentration. The discrimination threshold is by definition that amount of stimulant per unit of volume which will produce an effect of the magnitude of 1. Consequently, the numbers of moles being substituted, its reciprocal, the probability of obtaining a stimulus response, is greater than 1. A differential equation, namely (formula: see text), can be formulated as the basis of the stimulus-response behaviour of saccharose, the integration of which yields a discrimination characteristic expressed as (formula: see text). S = concentration of the solution as the stimulus intensity; R = stimulus response expressed in steps. The parameter b is the maximum probability of the stimulus response and can be termed substance-specific concentration coefficient. Rm is the maximum step number when the stimulus intensity tends to infinity; it is also substance-specific. As this characteristic involves both the proportional factors and the differential coefficients, it is called P-D characteristic. From this invariant relationship, the static P characteristic for a very slow increase in stimulus intensity can be derived. When the adaptation to the basic stimulus is abolished by mouth rinsing between tests in paired comparisons, the dependence of the discrimination threshold on the concentration is more than exponential. The stimulus-response characteristics obtained with different time-courses of stimulation are approximated by both the Weber-Fechner and the Stevens law.

Animals↗

Sodium taste detectability in rats is independent of anion size: the psychophysical characteristics of the transcellular sodium taste transduction pathway.

There are two known sodium transduction pathways in the rat gustatory system. The transcellular pathway is blocked by amiloride, and the paracellular pathway is limited by the anion gluconate. The contribution of each pathway to sodium detection was assessed. Sodium gluconate (NaGlu) and NaCl thresholds did not differ, implying that the paracellular pathway is not necessary for normal sodium detection. Adding 100 microM amiloride raised both NaCl and NaGlu thresholds but did not abolish all performance to NaGlu, indicating that some chemical cue was present at high concentrations. Rats were also exposed to one of three NaCl diets (0.12%, 1.0%, or 6.0% NaCl) through maternal and ad lib intake from Embryonic Day 1 through testing in adulthood. No differences across dietary groups were found for NaCl or NaGlu threshold with or without amiloride. Thus, this developmental dietary treatment does not appear to affect taste sensitivity to sodium subserved through either transduction pathway. Collectively, these data suggest that the transcellular transduction pathway is both necessary and sufficient for normal sodium detection.

Animals↗

Identification of coding single-nucleotide polymorphisms in human taste receptor genes involving bitter tasting.

T2Rs comprise a G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily that contains functionally defined bitter taste receptors. Here we report the tissue expressions and coding single-nucleotide polymorphisms (cSNPs) in human T2R genes (hT2R3, hT2R4, and hT2R5) on chromosome 7q31. We first demonstrated that hT2R3, hT2R4, and hT2R5 are actually expressed in the circumvallate papillae of the human tongue by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We identified six cSNPs within the T2R receptor genes. The hT2R4 and hT2R5 contained four and one cSNPs that cause missense mutations, respectively, while hT2R3 included one silent nucleotide mutation. However, we could not find any nonsense mutations that resulted in a frameshift or a premature stop codon within the open reading frames. Genotype frequencies of each cSNP were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The identification of nucleotide diversity and amino acid polymorphisms in human T2R receptors could help clarify individual differences in the acceptability and sensitivity to bitter compounds.

Base Sequence↗

Physicochemical studies of taste reception. III. Interpretation of the water response in taste reception.

The model membrane composed of a Millipore filter paper and the total lipids from bovine tongue epithelium or phosphatidylcholine from egg yolk simulated well the water response of a living taste cell, The water response observed with the model membrane adapted to various salt solutions was interpreted in terms of changes in electric potential at the membrane-solution interface, i.e. the water response was attributed to the e.m.f. change produced by diffusion of the electrolytes dissolved in (or adsorbed on) the membrane surface into the bulk solution. The water response of the frog tongue was also investigated by measuring the neural response of the glossopharyngeal nerve. The results obtained were consistent with the mechanism proposed in the present paper. The response of the frog to Ca2+ was examined under the condition where the water response was suppressed, and it was concluded that the water response of the frog is different from the response to Ca2+.

Animals↗

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↗

Taste nerve fibers: a random distribution of sensitivities to four tastes.

The numbers of rat glossopharyngeal and chorda tympani fibers responding to one, two, three, or four taste stimuli of different quality (sodium chloride, hydrochloric acid, quinine, and sucrose) and to each of the six possible pairs of these stimuli can be predicted if there are four independent sensitivities randomly distributed among innervating fibers.

Animals↗

Taste receptors in the gastrointestinal tract. I. Bitter taste receptors and alpha-gustducin in the mammalian gut.

Molecular sensing by gastrointestinal (GI) cells plays a critical role in the control of multiple fundamental functions in digestion and also initiates hormonal and/or neural pathways leading to the regulation of caloric intake, pancreatic insulin secretion, and metabolism. Molecular sensing in the GI tract is also responsible for the detection of ingested harmful drugs and toxins, thereby initiating responses critical for survival. The initial recognition events and mechanism(s) involved remain incompletely understood. The notion to be discussed in this article is that there are important similarities between the chemosensory machinery elucidated in specialized neuroepithelial taste receptor cells of the lingual epithelium and the molecular transducers localized recently in enteroendocrine open GI cells that sense the chemical composition of the luminal contents of the gut.

Animals↗

Structural functions of taste in the sugar series VII: taste properties of ketoses.

The preferable structural feature for sweetness is a lipophilic moiety, e.g., a five- or six-membered ring with a polar substituent containing an A-H/B system outside the ring. In ketoses, this unit is probably the 1,2-glycol. If a third feature (the lipophilic, gamma, site) is required for the attainment of optimum sweetness and if it is C-6 in ketoses, then this site can accommodate quite a large constituent, both above and below the plane of the ring. The removal of the hydroxyl group from the C-6 hydroxymethyl substituent to yield the 7-deoxy derivatives causes bitterness, thus implicating the primary hydroxymethyl group with bitterness.Therefore, the creation of lipophilic site(s) in the sugar ring causes the realignment of the sugar molecule on the taste receptor surface. The distrubance of the proposed A-H/B system, e.g., the removal of the C-2 hydroxyl group, causes the ring alpha-glycol unit (most likely the ring C-3 and C-4 hydroxyl groups) to function as the A-H/B system.

Binding Sites↗

Disruption of conditioned taste aversion: the effect of ECS after the taste-illness interval.

Rats were taught a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) by pairing a 10% sucrose solution (CS) with lithium chloride-induced poisoning (UCS) 30 min later. The extent to which electroconvulsive shock (ECS) (80 mA for 600 msec) impaired the acquisition of the CTA was studied by either interpolating the ECS within the CS-UCS interval or by administering it at various times following the UCS (0, 5, 10, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min). There was a pronounced although limited loss of learning among all groups when ECS was delivered no later than 10 min after the UCS. When ECS was administered between 15 and 120 min, the overall aversion acquired did not differ significantly from that of the poisoned controls. It is concluded that while the stability of CTA seems to increase at about the same time the behavioral concomitants of lithium toxicity become apparent (10 min), this phenomenon does not necessarily imply that the neural trace underlying CTA has consolidated into a less labile state.

Animals↗

Apomorphine-induced flavor-drug associations: a dose-response analysis by the taste reactivity test and the conditioned taste avoidance test.

Apomorphine is a positively reinforcing drug at low to moderate doses, but appears to lose its reinforcing properties at higher doses. In Experiment 1, across a range of doses (0.5-15.0 mg/kg, intraperitoneally), apomorphine produced a CTA over 5 conditioning/testing trials which was not dose-dependent by a single bottle test. The rejection taste reactivity responses of chin rubbing and gaping, however, only occurred at the highest dose of apomorphine (15 mg/kg). In Experiment 2, a CTA test which was designed to more effectively discriminate among the different drug dose conditions indicated that the doses of 2.5, 7.5 and 15 mg/kg of apomorphine produce CTAs of equivalent strength. Our results support the contention that CTAs produced by positively reinforcing drugs are not accompanied by a palatability shift.

Animals↗

Glucose sham drinking in the rat: satiety for the sweet taste without the sweet taste.

In rats sham drinking through oesophageal fistulae, sham intake of a dilute glucose solution (0.25 M) is greatly reduced, but not abolished, by an intragastric water preload. Since no further fluid enters the body, the early cessation of sham drinking must reflect a purely oral control, set by hydrational status. We show that lapping after the water load is abolished if the rat has sham-drunk appreciable quantities before the load is delivered. This is true even if the initial sham drinking is of plain water, with no sweet taste. Therefore, (1) the effect of the preload is to set the total quantity of oral feedback required to end the sham drinking bout; and (2) the necessary oral feedback is provided by the lapping response itself. It does not depend upon gustation.

Animals↗

Biochemical studies of taste sensation--VIII. Partial characterization of alanine-binding taste receptor sites of catfish Ictalurus punctatus using mercurials, sulfhydryl reagents, trypsin and phospholipase C.

1. Taste receptors for L-alanine in the channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus have been partially characterized. The binding activity, which is localized to a sedimentable fraction (Fraction P2), was assayed with L-[3H]alanine as the ligand. 2. Addition of HgCl2 or p-mercuribenzoate to the assay at 0.1-1 mM markedly inhibited binding. The effect was not reversible and was unaffected by increased L-alanine in the binding assay. 3. The sulfhydryl reagents iodoacetate, 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), arsenite, and N-ethylmaleimide did not show appreciable inhibition of binding. The results suggest that the inhibitory effect of mercurials is not on specific sulfhydryl groups at alanine-binding sites. 4. Treatment of Fraction P2 with phospholipase C decreased binding activity and treatment with trypsin led to increased binding activity.

Alanine↗

Taste-aversion-prone (TAP) rats and taste-aversion-resistant (TAR) rats differ in ethanol self-administration, but not in ethanol clearance or general consumption.

Taste-aversion (TA)-prone (TAP) rats and TA-resistant (TAR) rats have been developed by means of bidirectional selective breeding on the basis of their behavioral responses to a TA conditioning paradigm. The TA conditioning involved the pairing of an emetic-class agent (cyclophosphamide) with a novel saccharin solution as the conditioned stimulus. Despite the absence of ethanol in the selective breeding process, these rat lines differ widely in ethanol self-administration. In the current study, blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) were determined after 9 days of limited (2 h per day) access to a simultaneous, two-bottle choice of a 10% ethanol in water solution [volume/volume (vol./vol.)] or plain water. The BACs correlated highly with ethanol intake among TAR rats, but an insufficient number of TAP rats yielded measurable BACs to make the same comparison within this rat line. The same rats were subsequently exposed to 24-h access of a two-bottle choice (10% ethanol or plain water) for 8 days. Ethanol consumption during the 24-h access period correlated highly with that seen during limited access. Subsequent TA conditioning with these rats yielded line-typical differences in saccharin preferences. In a separate group of rats, ethanol clearance was determined by measuring BACs at 1, 4, and 7 h after injection of a 2.5-g/kg dose of ethanol. Ethanol clearance was not different between the two lines. Furthermore, the lines did not differ with respect to food and water consumption. Therefore, the TAP rat-TAR rat differences in ethanol consumption cannot be attributed to line differences in ethanol metabolism or in general consummatory behavior. The findings support our contention that the line differences in ethanol consumption are mediated by differences in TA-related mechanisms. The findings are discussed with respect to genetically based differences in the subjective experience of ethanol.

Alcohol Drinking↗

Separation of taste-aversion-prone and taste-aversion-resistant rats through selective breeding: implications for individual differences in conditionability and aversion-therapy alcoholism treatment.

Both rats and alcoholic humans display considerable variability in acquisition of illness-induced consummatory aversions. Differential conditionability may be a significant modulator of outcome in alcoholics who elect taste aversion (TA) approaches to abstinence facilitation. This is a report of the ongoing development of rat strains suitable for studies of biological bases of individual differences in TA conditionability. Sprague-Dawley-derived rats have been selectively bred over seven generations as strong or weak learners of a cyclophosphamide-induced saccharin aversion. Efficiency of aversion acquisition is a selectable propensity, as indicated by progressively divergent strain separation that attained significance in the second selected generation. Subjects have also been studied with respect to shock-motivated environmental avoidance (SMEA), but efficiency of SMEA performance has not been a selection factor. Results have produced an unexpected trend across generations indicative of a within-strain reversal of TA and SMEA learning efficiency. Continuation of this reversal in subsequent generations could have important implications for studies of genetic contributions to different learning capacities and for the selection of biologically appropriate noxious stimuli for aversive therapy treatments of various target problems.

Alcoholism↗

Cortical substrates of taste aversion learning: involvement of dorsolateral amygdaloid nuclei and temporal neocortex in taste aversion learning.

The amygdaloid complex is functionally implicated in conditioned taste aversion (CTA) learning. Results of previous neurobehavioral studies have provided equivocal evidence concerning the involvement of specific amygdaloid nuclei in CTA learning. The present study was conducted to examine the involvement of the central (CE), lateral (LA), and basolateral (BL) amygdaloid nuclei and the temporal neocortices (area 20) in CTA learning. To that end, distinct groups of rats received bilateral electrolytic lesion placements in the CE, LA, BL, or the temporal neocortices. Control animals received scalp and meningeal incisions only. Following recovery, animals were habituated to a restricted drinking schedule with distilled water. Animals then received CTA conditioning, with LiCl used both as the conditioned stimulus and as the unconditioned stimulus. Anterograde degeneration histologies were performed on all brain tissue to evaluate relations between CTA learning deficits and axonal pathology induced by lesion placements. Results of behavioral manipulations indicated that destruction of the CE, LA, or temporal neocortex impaired CTA acquisition, but damage induced to the basolateral amygdaloid nucleus did not. Anatomical observations indicated that degeneration of amygdalofugal and/or corticofugal projections to the convolutions of the olfactory tubercle (medial), subthalamic nucleus, and the parabrachial complex is correlated with CTA learning deficits. These results indicate that destruction of the dorsolateral amygdaloid nuclei and/or the temporal neocortices may produce CTA learning deficits by affecting olfactory, gustatory, and/or gastrointestinal processing in various portions of the forebrain.

Amygdala↗