TY - JOUR
T1 - Caffeine bitterness is related to daily caffeine intake and bitter receptor mRNA abundance in human taste tissue
AU - Lipchock, Sarah V.
AU - Spielman, Andrew I.
AU - Mennella, Julie A.
AU - Mansfield, Corrine J.
AU - Hwang, Liang Dar
AU - Douglas, Jennifer E.
AU - Reed, Danielle R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [T32DC000014 and F32DC011975 to S. V. L., P30DC011735 and R21DC013886 to D. R. R., and R01DC011287 to J. A. M.].
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2017/3
Y1 - 2017/3
N2 - We investigated whether the abundance of bitter receptor mRNA expression from human taste papillae is related to an individual’s perceptual ratings of bitter intensity and habitual intake of bitter drinks. Ratings of the bitterness of caffeine and quinine and three other bitter stimuli (urea, propylthiouracil, and denatonium benzoate) were compared with relative taste papilla mRNA abundance of bitter receptors that respond to the corresponding bitter stimuli in cell-based assays (TAS2R4, TAS2R10, TAS2R38, TAS2R43, and TAS2R46). We calculated caffeine and quinine intake from a food frequency questionnaire. The bitterness of caffeine was related to the abundance of the combined mRNA expression of these known receptors, r=0.47, p=.05, and self-reported daily caffeine intake, t(18)=2.78, p=.012. The results of linear modeling indicated that 47% of the variance among subjects in the rating of caffeine bitterness was accounted for by these two factors (habitual caffeine intake and taste receptor mRNA abundance).We observed no such relationships for quinine but consumption of its primary dietary form (tonic water) was uncommon. Overall, diet and TAS2R gene expression in taste papillae are related to individual differences in caffeine perception.
AB - We investigated whether the abundance of bitter receptor mRNA expression from human taste papillae is related to an individual’s perceptual ratings of bitter intensity and habitual intake of bitter drinks. Ratings of the bitterness of caffeine and quinine and three other bitter stimuli (urea, propylthiouracil, and denatonium benzoate) were compared with relative taste papilla mRNA abundance of bitter receptors that respond to the corresponding bitter stimuli in cell-based assays (TAS2R4, TAS2R10, TAS2R38, TAS2R43, and TAS2R46). We calculated caffeine and quinine intake from a food frequency questionnaire. The bitterness of caffeine was related to the abundance of the combined mRNA expression of these known receptors, r=0.47, p=.05, and self-reported daily caffeine intake, t(18)=2.78, p=.012. The results of linear modeling indicated that 47% of the variance among subjects in the rating of caffeine bitterness was accounted for by these two factors (habitual caffeine intake and taste receptor mRNA abundance).We observed no such relationships for quinine but consumption of its primary dietary form (tonic water) was uncommon. Overall, diet and TAS2R gene expression in taste papillae are related to individual differences in caffeine perception.
KW - Bitter taste
KW - Copy number variation
KW - Human
KW - MRNA expression
KW - Psychophysics
KW - TAS2R
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U2 - 10.1177/0301006616686098
DO - 10.1177/0301006616686098
M3 - Article
C2 - 28118781
AN - SCOPUS:85018337678
VL - 46
SP - 245
EP - 256
JO - Perception
JF - Perception
SN - 0301-0066
IS - 3-4
ER -