Dataset Information

Age-related differences in bitter taste and efficacy of bitter blockers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bitter taste is the primary culprit for rejection of pediatric liquid medications. We probed the underlying biology of bitter sensing and the efficacy of two known bitter blockers in children and adults.

Methods

A racially diverse group of 154 children (3-10 years old) and their mothers (N = 118) evaluated the effectiveness of two bitter blockers, sodium gluconate (NaG) and monosodium glutamate (MSG), for five food-grade bitter compounds (quinine, denatonium benzoate, caffeine, propylthiouracil (PROP), urea) using a forced-choice method of paired comparisons. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01407939).

Results

The blockers reduced bitterness in 7 of 10 bitter-blocker combinations for adults but only 3 of 10 for children, suggesting that efficacy depends on age and is also specific to each bitter-blocker combination. Only the bitterness of urea was reduced by both blockers in both age groups, whereas the bitterness of PROP was not reduced by either blocker in either age group regardless of TAS2R38 genotype. Children liked the salty taste of the blocker NaG more than did adults, but both groups liked the savory taste of MSG equally.

Conclusions and relevance

Bitter blocking was less effective in children, and the efficacy of blocking was both age and compound specific. This knowledge will pave the way for evidence-based strategies to help develop better-tasting medicines and highlights the conclusion that adult panelists and genotyping alone may not always be appropriate in evaluating the taste of a drug geared for children.

SUBMITTER: Mennella JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4106902 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Age-related differences in bitter taste and efficacy of bitter blockers.

Mennella Julie A JA Reed Danielle R DR Roberts Kristi M KM Mathew Phoebe S PS Mansfield Corrine J CJ

PloS one 20140722 7

<h4>Background</h4>Bitter taste is the primary culprit for rejection of pediatric liquid medications. We probed the underlying biology of bitter sensing and the efficacy of two known bitter blockers in children and adults.<h4>Methods</h4>A racially diverse group of 154 children (3-10 years old) and their mothers (N = 118) evaluated the effectiveness of two bitter blockers, sodium gluconate (NaG) and monosodium glutamate (MSG), for five food-grade bitter compounds (quinine, denatonium benzoate, c ...[more]

PMID: 25050705

Similar Datasets

Project description:Little research has focused on whether there are individual differences among children in their sensitivity to sweet taste and, if so, the biological correlates of such differences.Our goal was to understand how variations in children's sucrose detection thresholds relate to their age and gender, taste genotype, body composition, and dietary intake of added sugars.Sucrose detection thresholds in 7- to 14-year-old children were tested individually using a validated, two-alternative, forced-choice, paired-comparison tracking method. Five genetic variants of taste genes were assayed: TAS1R3 and GNAT3 (sweet genes; one variant each) and the bitter receptor gene TAS2R38 (three variants). All children were measured for body weight and height. A subset of these children were measured for the percentage of body fat and waist circumference and provided added sugar intake by 24-hour dietary recall.Sucrose thresholds ranged from 0.23 to 153.8 mM with most of the children completing the threshold task (216/235; 92%). Some children were biologically related (i.e., siblings), and for the genetic analysis, one sibling from each family was studied. Variants in the bitter but not the sweet genes were related to sucrose threshold and sugar intake; children with two bitter-sensitive alleles could detect sucrose at lower concentrations (F(2,165) = 4.55, p = .01; rs1726866) and reported eating more added sugar (% kcal; F(2, 62) = 3.64, p = .03) than did children with less sensitive alleles. Age, gender, and indices of obesity also were related to child-to-child differences in sucrose threshold; girls were more sensitive than boys (t(214) = 2.0, p = .05), older children were more sensitive than younger children (r(214) = -.16, p = .02), and fatter (r(84) = -.22, p = .05) or more centrally obese children (r(84) = -.26, p = .02) were more sensitive relative to others.Inborn differences in bitter sensitivity may affect childhood dietary sugar intake with long-term health consequences. There may be a more complex interplay between the developing bitter and sweet taste systems than previously understood.

Dataset Information

Age-related differences in bitter taste and efficacy of bitter blockers.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions and relevance

Publications

Age-related differences in bitter taste and efficacy of bitter blockers.

Similar Datasets

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