Evaluation of peripheral taste system among the different life stages

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26660106
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Food science
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Narukawa Masataka 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 助教 (50432349)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 味覚 / 加齢 / 食生活

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To investigate the cause of the age-related changes in taste sensitivity, we compared the peripheral taste detection systems in young and old mice. We examined whether taste sensitivity varied according to age. We confirmed that the taste sensitivities altered with aging by behavioral and electrophysiological assays. Although we evaluated the expressions of taste-related molecules in the taste buds, no apparent differences in the expressions of representative taste receptors were observed between the two age groups. Moreover, no significant differences in the turnover rates of taste bud cells were observed between the two age groups. Thus, we did not observe any large decreases in the expressions of taste-related molecules and turnover rates of taste bud cells with aging. Based on these findings, we conclude that changes in taste sensitivity with aging were not caused by aging-related degradation of peripheral taste organs.

Free Research Field

食品科学