Association between taste perception and adiposity in overweight or obese older subjects with metabolic syndrome and identification of novel taste-related genes

Authors: COLTELL, OSCAR - University Jaume I Of Castellon; SORLI, JOSE - University Of Valencia; ASENSIO, EVA - University Of Valencia; FERNANDEZ-CARRION, REBECA - University Of Valencia; BARRAGAN, ROCIO - University Of Valencia; ORTEGA-AZORIN, CAROLINA - University Of Valencia; ESTRUCH, RAMON - Instituto De Salud Carlos Iii; GONZALEZ, JOSE - Instituto De Salud Carlos Iii; SALAS-SALVADO, JORDI - University Rovira I Virgili; LAMON-FAVA, STEFANIA - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; LICHTENSTEIN, ALICE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; CORELLA, DOLORES - University Of Valencia

Submitted to: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/26/2019
Publication Date: 4/21/2019
Citation: Coltell, O., Sorli, J.V., Asensio, E.M., Fernandez-Carrion, R., Barragan, R., Ortega-Azorin, C., Estruch, R., Gonzalez, J.I., Salas-Salvado, J., Lamon-Fava, S., Lichtenstein, A.H., Corella, D. 2019. Association between taste perception and adiposity in overweight or obese older subjects with metabolic syndrome and identification of novel taste-related genes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 109(6):1709-1723. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqz038.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqz038

Interpretive Summary: Gaining a better understanding of factors that influence eating behaviors is of critical importance in light of the high rates of obesity, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, elevated blood cholesterol levels and other metabolic diseases currently observed, and their associated disabilities. Taste perception has been suggested as a key driver of food preferences, choices, amounts consumed and likelihood of consuming in the future. The aim of this study was to determine whether lower perception of the 5 major tastes (bitter, sweet, salty, sour and savory), separately or in combination, was associated with higher body weight, BMI and/or waist circumference. Subjects were a subsample of participants recruited from PREDIMED PLUS-Valencia study. We found that the more intense the taste perception, the lower the obesity-related parameters, including body-weight, BMI and waist circumference. This association was strong, especially for bitter taste. These findings have implications for targeted approaches nutritionists can use when counseling obese and overweight patients.

Technical Abstract: Background: The relationship between taste perception, diet and adiposity remains controversial. Additionally, there is a lack of knowledge on the polymorphisms influencing taste given the scarcity of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) published. Objective: We studied the relationship between perception of the basic tastes; sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami (separately and jointly in a "taste score"), and anthropometric measurements in older subjects with metabolic syndrome (MeS). GWAS were undertaken to identify genes associated with tastes and their score. Design: Taste perception was cross-sectionally determined by challenging subjects with solutions (5 concentrations) of the basic tastes using standard prototypical tastants (phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP), NaCl, sucrose, monopotassium glutamate and citric acid; for bitter, salt, sweet, umami and sour, respectively), on 381 older individuals with MeS. Taste perception intensities were expressed on a scale. A total taste score was derived. Results: The total taste score was inversely associated with body weight, BMI and waist circumference (P<0.05). Subjects having a total taste score higher/equal the median (11-points for concentration V) were less likely to be classified as obese than subjects below the median (OR:0.36; 95%CI: 0.22, 0.59; P<0.001). Associations were similar, albeit less strong, for some taste qualities. In the GWAS, the highest associations were for bitter taste [TAS2R38-rs1726866, with P=7.74x10^-18 for PTC and P=3.96x10^-19 for PROP]. For other tastes, several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) exceeded the P-threshold of 1x10^-5. However, the top-ranked SNPs independently explained a low percent of taste variability, hence their use as single proxies for the association between tastes and adiposity is limited. Conclusions: We have found a strong inverse association between greater taste perception and body weight, BMI and waist circumference in older subjects with MeS and identified some taste-related SNPs. It would be advantageous to identify additional genetic proxies for taste and develop polygenic scores.