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New insight into human sweet taste: a genome-wide association study of the perception and intake of sweet substances.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Individual differences in human perception of sweetness are partly due to genetics; however, which genes are associated with the perception and the consumption of sweet substances remains unclear. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to verify previous reported associations within genes involved in the peripheral receptor systems (i.e., TAS1R2, TAS1R3, and GNAT3) and reveal novel loci. METHODS:We performed genome-wide association scans (GWASs) of the perceived intensity of 2 sugars (glucose and fructose) and 2 high-potency sweeteners (neohesperidin dihydrochalcone and aspartame) in an Australian adolescent twin sample (n = 1757), and the perceived intensity and sweetness and the liking of sucrose in a US adult twin sample (n = 686). We further performed GWASs of the intake of total sugars (i.e., total grams of all dietary mono- and disaccharides per day) and sweets (i.e., handfuls of candies per day) in the UK Biobank sample (n = ?174,424 white-British individuals). All participants from the 3 independent samples were of European ancestry. RESULTS:We found a strong association between the intake of total sugars and the single nucleotide polymorphism rs11642841 within the FTO gene on chromosome 16 (P = 3.8 × 10-8) and many suggestive associations (P < 1.0 × 10-5) for each of the sweet perception and intake phenotypes. We showed genetic evidence for the involvement of the brain in both sweet taste perception and sugar intake. There was limited support for the associations with TAS1R2, TAS1R3, and GNAT3 in all 3 European samples. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings indicate that genes additional to those involved in the peripheral receptor system are also associated with the sweet taste perception and intake of sweet-tasting foods. The functional potency of the genetic variants within TAS1R2, TAS1R3, and GNAT3 may be different between ethnic groups and this warrants further investigations.

SUBMITTER: Hwang LD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6537940 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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New insight into human sweet taste: a genome-wide association study of the perception and intake of sweet substances.

Hwang Liang-Dar LD Lin Cailu C Gharahkhani Puya P Cuellar-Partida Gabriel G Ong Jue-Sheng JS An Jiyuan J Gordon Scott D SD Zhu Gu G MacGregor Stuart S Lawlor Deborah A DA Breslin Paul A S PAS Wright Margaret J MJ Martin Nicholas G NG Reed Danielle R DR

The American journal of clinical nutrition 20190601 6

<h4>Background</h4>Individual differences in human perception of sweetness are partly due to genetics; however, which genes are associated with the perception and the consumption of sweet substances remains unclear.<h4>Objective</h4>The aim of this study was to verify previous reported associations within genes involved in the peripheral receptor systems (i.e., TAS1R2, TAS1R3, and GNAT3) and reveal novel loci.<h4>Methods</h4>We performed genome-wide association scans (GWASs) of the perceived int ...[more]

PMID: 31005972

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Project description:ObjectiveBitter or sweet beverage perception is associated with alterations in brain structure and function. Our aim is to analyze the genetic association between bitter or sweet beverage perception and human brain proteins.Materials and methodsIn our study, 8356 and 11,518 proteins were first collected from two reference datasets of human brain proteomes, the ROS/MAP and Banner. The bitter or sweet beverage perception-related proteome-wide association studies (PWAS) were then conducted by integrating recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) data (n = 422,300) of taste perception with human brain proteomes. The human brain gene expression profiles were collected from two reference datasets, including the brain RNA-seq (CBR) and brain RNA-seq splicing (CBRS). The taste perception-related transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) were finally performed by integrating the same GWAS data with human brain gene expression profiles to validate the PWAS findings.ResultsIn PWAS, four statistically significant proteins were identified using the ROS/MAP and then replicated using the Banner reference dataset (all permutated p < 0.05), including ABCG2 for total bitter beverages and tea, CPNE1 for total bitter beverage, ACTR1B for artificially sweetened beverages, FLOT2 for alcoholic bitter beverages and total sweet beverages. In TWAS analysis, six statistically significant genes were detected by CBR and confirmed by the CBRS reference dataset (all permutated p < 0.05), including PIGG for total bitter beverages and non-alcoholic bitter beverages, C3orf18 for total bitter beverages, ZSWIM7 for non-alcoholic bitter beverages, PEX7 for coffee, PKP4 for tea and RPLP2 for grape juice. Further comparison of the PWAS and TWAS found three common statistically significant proteins/genes identified from the Banner and CBR reference datasets, including THBS4 for total bitter beverages, CA4 for non-alcoholic bitter beverages, LIAS for non-grape juices.ConclusionsOur results support the potential effect of bitter or sweet beverage perception on brain function and identify several candidate brain proteins for bitter or sweet beverage perception.

Project description:Taste perception and its association with nutrition and related diseases (type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular, etc.) are emerging fields of biomedicine. There is currently great interest in investigating the environmental and genetic factors that influence sweet taste and sugary food preferences for personalized nutrition. Our aims were: (1) to carry out an integrated analysis of the influence of sweet taste preference (both in isolation and in the context of other tastes) on the preference for sugary foods and its modulation by type 2 diabetes status; (2) as well as to explore new genetic factors associated with sweet taste preference. We studied 425 elderly white European subjects with metabolic syndrome and analyzed taste preference, taste perception, sugary-foods liking, biochemical and genetic markers. We found that type 2 diabetic subjects (38%) have a small, but statistically higher preference for sweet taste (p = 0.021) than non-diabetic subjects. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) in preferences for the other tastes (bitter, salty, sour or umami) were detected. For taste perception, type 2 diabetic subjects have a slightly lower perception of all tastes (p = 0.026 for the combined "total taste score"), bitter taste being statistically lower (p = 0.023). We also carried out a principal component analysis (PCA), to identify latent variables related to preferences for the five tastes. We identified two factors with eigenvalues >1. Factor 2 was the one with the highest correlation with sweet taste preference. Sweet taste preference was strongly associated with a liking for sugary foods. In the exploratory SNP-based genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified some SNPs associated with sweet taste preference, both at the suggestive and at the genome-wide level, especially a lead SNP in the PTPRN2 (Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Receptor Type N2) gene, whose minor allele was associated with a lower sweet taste preference. The PTPRN2 gene was also a top-ranked gene obtained in the gene-based exploratory GWAS analysis. In conclusion, sweet taste preference was strongly associated with sugary food liking in this population. Our exploratory GWAS identified an interesting candidate gene related with sweet taste preference, but more studies in other populations are required for personalized nutrition.

Project description:The aim of the study was to verify the hypothesis about differences in sweet taste perception in the group of preschool children with and without caries, and to determine its relationship with cariogenic microbiota and the frequency of sweets consumption in children. The study group included of 63 children aged 2-6 years: 32 with caries and 31 without caries. The study consisted of collecting questionnaire data and assessment of dental status using the decayed, missing, filled in primary teeth index (dmft) and the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS II). The evaluation of sweet taste perception was carried out using a specific method that simultaneously assessed the level of taste preferences and the sensitivity threshold for a given taste. The microbiological analysis consisted of the assessment of the quantitative and qualitative compositions of the oral microbiota of the examined children. The sweet taste perception of children with caries was characterized by a lower susceptibility to sucrose (the preferred sucrose solution concentration was >4 g/L) compared to children without caries (in the range ? 4 g/L, p = 0.0015, chi-square test). A similar relationship was also observed for frequent snacking between meals (p = 0.0038, chi-square test). The analysis of studied variables showed the existence of a strong positive correlation between the perception of sweet taste and the occurrence and intensity of the cariogenic process (p = 0.007 for dmft; and p = 0.012 for ICDAS II), as well as the frequency of consuming sweets (p ? 0.001 for frequent and repeated consumption of sweets during the day, Spearman test) in children with caries. Additionally, children with an elevated sucrose taste threshold were more than 10-times more likely to develop S. mutans presence (OR = 10.21; 95% CI 3.11-33.44). The results of this study suggest the future use of taste preferences in children as a diagnostic tool for the early detection of increased susceptibility to caries through microbial dysbiosis towards specific species of microorganisms.

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New insight into human sweet taste: a genome-wide association study of the perception and intake of sweet substances.

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New insight into human sweet taste: a genome-wide association study of the perception and intake of sweet substances.

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