2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Objective taste diagnosis following expression of umami-taste -related genes in the tongue

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	17H04419
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Social dentistry
Research Institution	Tohoku University
Principal Investigator	sasano takashi 東北大学, 歯学研究科, 名誉教授 (10125560)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	菅原由美子東北大学, 大学病院, 助教 (30235866) 佐藤しづ子東北大学, 歯学研究科, 助教 (60225274) 嶋田雄介東北大学, 大学病院, 医員 (60789163) 庄司憲明東北大学, 大学病院, 講師 (70250800) 飯久保正弘東北大学, 歯学研究科, 講師 (80302157)
Project Period (FY)	2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
Keywords	味覚障害 / 味覚遺伝子発現 / 客観的味覚測定法
Outline of Final Research Achievements	In Japan, gustatory function is generally assessed using the electrogustometry and the filter paper disk method. However, these are not necessarily useful for patients who cannot express their taste sensation, because of subjective test. So, we investigated whether taste receptors can be quantitatively detected with digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis using human samples from tongue. Until now, immunocytochemistry staining of gustducin, a taste-cell specific G protein, and gene expression analysis by digital PCR of taste receptorswere performed. But, each PCR product was not enough rate of identification, we are repeatedly devising primer designs. We also studied about the effects of chemotherapy on taste alterations. Chemotherapy induced taste alterations in more than 50 % of patients, which decreased to less than 10 % immediately beforte the next chemotherapy cycle. A combination of objective and subjective assessments is essential to evaluate taste alterations.
Free Research Field	口腔診断学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	我が国では、超高齢化や食生活の変化などを背景に味覚障害患者が急増している。味覚障害は単なる感覚障害に留まらず、高齢者では食欲不振から体重減少、さらに体調不良に陥る場合が多い。現在、臨床で行われている味覚検査法は、患者の主観に基づいた測定方法であり、高齢者に多くみられる認知症では検査ができない。今回我々が開発をめざしているPCRを用いた舌の味覚受容体量測定法は、認知症患者などに、味覚の客観的評価法を可能にするものである。本方法の確立は、高齢者に潜在する味覚障害の発見を可能とし、健康長寿に寄与する。