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[An ecogenetic approach to studying the adaptation and human health].

Genetic markers--blood groups ABO, RH, MN; serum proteins HP, PI, TF, C3; erythrocyte enzymes ACP1, ESD, AK1, PGM1, GLO1, PGD, PGP; and the other: PTC-tasting, ear wax types and color vision, were studied in two aboriginal Buryatian populations of Baikal Lake region: in Chitinskaya and Irkutskaya Provinces. Two samples were further divided into subgroups, according to their health status: "healthy", "indefinite" and "sick" by means of special regression procedure. The "healthy" subgroup of the Chitinskaya Province population is characterized by higher frequencies of PTC-tasters: 0.871 vs. 0.757 in the "sick" part (chi 2 = 5.36, p less than 0.05); higher frequency of the phenotype PI M1M1: 0.734 in "healthy" vs. 0.547 in "sick" (chi 2 = 8.89, p less than 0.01); also, lower frequency of the PI M1M2 phenotype: 0.148 and 0.299, respectively (chi 2 = 7.49, p less than 0.01); the frequencies of the phenotype TF C2C2 are: 0.015 and 0.076 (chi 2 = 5.48, p less than 0.05). In Irkutskaya Province population differences between "healthy" and "sick" subgroups were discovered for blood group AB: "healthy" 0.046 and "sick"--0.175 (chi 2 = 11.28, p less than 0.010); for GC (1F-2)--0.214 and 0.116 (chi 2 = 4.45, p less than 0.05). Some other differences between "healthy" and "sick" in both populations are not significant. Some trends concerning heterozygosity in loci--GC, PGM, TF were discovered. The results are considered from the viewpoint of higher fitness of some genetic traits in the populations studied.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Olfactory responses in the gustatory area of the parabrachial pons.

Electrophysiological responses to olfactory and gustatory stimuli were recorded in the same neural elements in the parabrachial nuclei (PbN) of rats under Flaxedil. Responses to olfactory stimuli varied in temporal pattern and magnitude from responses to gustatory stimuli. Intravenous infusion of Nembutal while recording from one unit appeared to alter the pattern of responsiveness across stimuli. Most importantly the response to one olfactory stimulus (vanilla) was eliminated by this procedure. Olfactory-gustatory elements were located in the lateral portion of the taste-responsive area of the PbN, just below the brachium conjunctivum. These results suggest that the PbN receives input from both olfactory and gustatory pathways and that these pathways may converge on the same neural elements within the PbN. This convergence may be part of a neurophysiological substrate for the perception of flavor.

Administration, Oral↗

Rehabilitation of olfaction after laryngectomy by means of a nasal airflow-inducing maneuver: the "polite yawning" technique.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a nasal airflow-inducing maneuver and apply it in the olfactory rehabilitation of patients who have undergone laryngectomy. DESIGN: Intervention study; before-and-after trial. SETTING: National cancer center. PATIENTS: Forty-four patients who underwent laryngectomy; 34 men and 10 women; mean age, 64 years (range, 42-80 years); mean time since surgery, 6 years (range, 8 months to 18 years). INTERVENTION: In a prospective clinical intervention study, we assessed the effectiveness of a nasal airflow-inducing maneuver ("polite yawning," ie, yawning with closed lips). Speech therapists trained the patients in the maneuver, and its effectiveness in inducing nasal airflow was checked with digital and water manometers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Olfactory acuity was assessed before and after the intervention by means of an odor detection test and a structured questionnaire concerning olfaction, taste, and appetite. Patients were categorized as "smellers" and "nonsmellers" on the basis of the results of the odor detection test and the present odor perception scale derived from the questionnaire. RESULTS: The nasal airflow-inducing maneuver could be taught to all patients, mostly in only one 30-minute therapy session. Fifteen of the 33 patients in the pretreatment nonsmeller category converted to smellers, for a success rate of 46% (P<.001). CONCLUSION: The nasal airflow-inducing maneuver (the "polite yawning" technique) allowed almost half of the patients to recover their sense of smell.

Adult↗

Neuropsychological functioning associated with high-altitude exposure.

This article focuses on neuropsychological functioning at moderate, high, and extreme altitude. This article summarizes the available literature on respiratory, circulatory, and brain determinants on adaptation to hypoxia that are hypothesized to be responsible for neuropsychological impairment due to altitude. Effects on sleep are also described. At central level, periventricular focal damages (leuko-araiosis) and cortical atrophy have been observed. Frontal lobe and middle temporal lobe alterations are also presumed. A review is provided regarding the effects on psychomotor performance, perception, learning, memory, language, cognitive flexibility, and metamemory. Increase of reaction time and latency of P300 are observed. Reduced thresholds of tact, smell, pain, and taste, together with somesthetic illusions and visual hallucinations have been reported. Impairment in codification and short-term memory are especially noticeable above 6,000 m. Alterations in accuracy and motor speed are identified at lower altitudes. Deficits in verbal fluency, language production, cognitive fluency, and metamemory are also detected. The moderating effects of personality variables over the above-mentioned processes are discussed. Finally, methodological flaws found in the literature are detailed and some applied proposals are suggested.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Variation in the human TAS1R taste receptor genes.

We have performed a comprehensive evaluation of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes in the human TAS1R gene family, which encodes receptors for sweet and umami tastes. Complete DNA sequences of TAS1R1-, TAS1R2-, and TAS1R3-coding regions, obtained from 88 individuals of African, Asian, European, and Native American origin, revealed substantial coding and noncoding diversity: polymorphisms are common in these genes, and polymorphic sites and SNP frequencies vary widely in human populations. The genes TAS1R1 and TAS1R3, which encode proteins that act as a dimer to form the umami (glutamate) taste receptor, showed less variation than the TAS1R2 gene, which acts as a dimer with TAS1R3 to form the sweet taste receptor. The TAS1R3 gene, which encodes a subunit common to both the sweet and umami receptors, was the most conserved. Evolutionary genetic analysis indicates that these variants have come to their current frequencies under natural selection during population growth and support the view that the coding sequence variants affect receptor function. We propose that human populations likely vary little with respect to umami perception, which is controlled by one major form of the receptor that is optimized for detecting glutamate but may vary much more with respect to sweet perception.

DNA↗

Preexposure and extinction effects of lithium chloride induced taste-potentiated aversions for spatially contiguous auditory food cues in rats.

Taste potentiated illness-induced aversions for noisy food were studied in Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats ate from receptacles containing salty food and a contiguous tone produced by speakers under the food followed by lithium chloride injections. In preference tests, the rats then avoided noisy food in favor of quiet food followed by extinction and spontaneous recovery of the auditory aversion over repeated nonreinforced trials. Other rats were given either 4 or 10 days of exposure to the noisy food prior to taste-toxicosis treatment. None of these rats subsequently avoided noisy food. The importance of spatial contiguity and methodological variation in associating nongustatory food cues with illness is discussed.

Animals↗

Arab American adolescent perceptions and experiences with smoking.

The purpose of this pilot study was to gather information on Arab American adolescent tobacco use behavior. This information was used to modify the Project Toward No Tobacco Use cessation program so that it would reflect the cultural values of Arab American youths. Focus group interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data from 28 Arab American adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 years. The number of participants in the focus groups ranged from three to eight; four sessions were conducted. A moderator, fluent in Arabic and English, facilitated the group's interactions. Each group addressed five interview questions. Discussions were audiotaped and transcribed with the expressed permission of study participants. Qualitative analysis consisted of careful reading of the transcripts and of the field notes for the purpose of identifying recurring themes around tobacco use. Those that emerged were Being Cool; Being able to "Nshar ma'a al shabab" (hang out with the guys); Present Orientation; Smoking feels good, tastes good, and keeps your mind off trouble; Availability and Accessibility of tobacco; and Barriers to Smoking Cessation Programs. The results of the focus group discussions provided valuable information about the tobacco use perceptions and behaviors of Arab American adolescents and the youths' need for a culturally relevant smoking cessation program.

Adolescent↗

Taste disorder in hypo and hyperthyroidism.

Gustatory responses to the basic taste substances (sweet, salty, sour and bitter) were studied in hypothyroid and hyperthyroid subjects. The intensity and hedonic responses were evaluated using "category scaling" for 7 concentrations of glucose, sodium chloride, citric acid and quinine sulphate. The intensity and hedonic values decrease in hyperthyroidism for salt and bitter solution, and sourness is perceived as more unpleasant. In hypothyroid subjects intensity and hedonic value decreases for sweetness, the pleasant responses to salt and bitter increase, though intensity perception decreases for bitter solutions.

Adult↗

Learning and retention of conditioned aversions by freely feeding chicks.

The present experiments assessed poison-based aversion learning and retention in freely feeding and drinking domestic chicks whose drinking water was colored blue and adulterated with LiCl for a 24-hr period. The amount of LiCl self-administered by 11-day-old chicks and their subsequent avoidance of unadulterated water of the same color was examined. The results of four experiments demonstrated that chicks self-administered large and often lethal doses of the LiCl solution. Chicks subsequently avoided blue water during two-bottle preference tests administered 3 to 7 days but not 14 days after exposure. These data indicate that neophobia alone is insufficient to prevent nondeprived chicks from ingesting large quantities of a toxin during their initial encounter with it. The lack of long-term retention in the present experiments indicates that naturally occurring aversions based on visual and illness cues, while effective in the short term, may not be a major factor in the choices made by freely feeding and drinking chicks over the long term.

Animals↗

Memory in the chick: multiple cues, distinct brain locations.

Training chicks on a one-trial passive avoidance task results in memory-dependent synaptic remodeling in the intermediate medial hyperstriatum ventrale (IMHV) and lobus parolfactorius (LPO). Because pretraining IMHV lesions are amnestic and posttraining IMHV lesions are not, the functional significance of this remodeling requires explanation. Chicks use various cues to classify and remember objects. If the IMHV were concerned with memory for only one such cue, then posttraining IMHV lesions would not lead to "amnesia" because animals would still avoid the aversive bead using other contextual cues. This hypothesis was tested using a color discrimination task. IMHV lesions, but not LPO lesions, impair color discrimination, suggesting that the IMHV may be involved in classifying and remembering the bitter bead on the basis of color. Thus, even simple associations are stored in the brain in the form of multiple, dispersed representations.

Animals↗

The easy to hard effect and perceptual learning in flavor aversion conditioning.

In experiments on the easy to hard effect, pretraining on an easy discrimination results in better performance on a harder version of the discrimination than pretraining on the hard discrimination itself. In addition, some theories posit that unreinforccd preexposure to the easy discrimination should be as effective as differentially reinforced easy pretraining in producing the easy to hard effect. Two experiments on flavor aversion conditioning in rats demonstrated the basic easy to hard effect. However, in neither experiment was easy preexposure more effective than hard preexposure in enhancing learning of the hard discrimination. Indeed, in Experiment 2, rats preexposed to an easy discrimination learned the hard discrimination significantly more slowly than those preexposed to the hard discrimination itself.

Animals↗

Combination of a preference pattern with the triangle taste test.

When dealing with the problem of obtaining information concerning consumer preferences for two competing brands of a product, one would like to assume that the consumers sampled can actually distinguish between the two brands. Often this is not the case and we have combined the standard triangle test of sensory perception with a preference test in order to obtain information concerning the consumers' ability to distinguish between the two brands. Assuming an underlying multinomial distribution, the maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) of the conditional probability that a person prefers brand A given that he can discriminate between the two products is then obtained. The estimator obtained is a ratio of linear combinations of observed multinomial proportions. The variability of this estimator is assessed by means of the jackknife statistic, the asymptotic variance of the MLE, and Monte Carlo studies. Application of the results obtained to taste test involving two brands of potato chips is discussed.

Consumer Behavior↗

Perceptions of children, parents, and teachers regarding whole-grain foods, and implications for a school-based intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To identify perceptions of whole-grain foods and factors influencing intake by children, parents, and teachers as the basis for increasing intake by children within a school-based intervention. DESIGN: Focus group interviews with questions based on Social Cognitive Theory. SETTING: After-school care programs in 4 elementary schools in a large metropolitan district in St. Paul, Minn. PARTICIPANTS: Seven, three and two focus group interviews with children (n = 40; grades K-6), parents (n = 18), and teachers (n = 11), respectively. PHENOMENON OF INTEREST: Child and adult factors influencing intake of whole-grain foods, with a tasting activity to stimulate discussion. ANALYSIS: Qualitative data analysis procedures to generate common themes from encoded transcripts. RESULTS: Adults and children were positive about sensory characteristics of whole-grain products. Knowledge of ways to identify these foods was limited. Taste preferences strongly influenced selection of bread and cereals. Children suggested that new school foods should look and taste good, be familiar, and be promoted through sampling, peer influence, and incentives. Adults suggested a gradual increase in whole-grain content of school meals. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE: Focus groups were useful in understanding perceptions regarding whole-grain foods and yielded valuable insight toward design of a school-based intervention.

Adult↗

Neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks.

Coca-Cola (Coke) and Pepsi are nearly identical in chemical composition, yet humans routinely display strong subjective preferences for one or the other. This simple observation raises the important question of how cultural messages combine with content to shape our perceptions; even to the point of modifying behavioral preferences for a primary reward like a sugared drink. We delivered Coke and Pepsi to human subjects in behavioral taste tests and also in passive experiments carried out during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Two conditions were examined: (1) anonymous delivery of Coke and Pepsi and (2) brand-cued delivery of Coke and Pepsi. For the anonymous task, we report a consistent neural response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex that correlated with subjects' behavioral preferences for these beverages. In the brand-cued experiment, brand knowledge for one of the drinks had a dramatic influence on expressed behavioral preferences and on the measured brain responses.

Adult↗

Relation between PROP taster status and fat perception, touch, and olfaction.

We tested the hypothesis that fat perception (sensitivity to and preferences for fat) may be linked to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status as a result of differences in trigeminal innervation of the oral cavity. In addition, we examined the relationship between taster status and sensitivity to other taste attributes, as well as tactile and olfactory sensitivities. Subjects (40 nontasters, 67 medium tasters, and 40 supertasters of PROP) rated samples (potato chips, chocolate drink, mashed potatoes, and vanilla pudding) varying in fat and flavor concentrations for the intensity of fattiness, saltiness, and sweetness, first without and then with nose clips, and for liking. Tactile sensitivity of the tongue was assessed according to responses to stimulation with Von Frey filaments (2.36, 2.44). Olfactory thresholds were determined for two odors (diacetyl and phenylethyl methyl ethyl carbinol). In general, taster status was not related to the perceptions of fat, saltiness, and sweetness. Subjects were able to accurately assess the fat content of the samples. Increasing the flavor levels in the potato chips and mashed potatoes enhanced the perception of fattiness for these systems. Supertasters were more sensitive to stimulation on the median of the tongue with the no. 2.36 Von Frey filament, and the olfactory thresholds for diacetyl were lower for PROP tasters and supertasters than for nontasters.

Adolescent↗