title: Development of brief methods to classify individuals by PROP taster status.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop brief methods for classifying individuals by genetic taste sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). Two methods are described, which are modifications of a commonly used, suprathreshold procedure. Eighty-nine adult subjects rated the perceived intensity of solutions of 0.032, 0.32 and 3.2 mmol/l PROP and 0.01, 0.1, 1.0 mol/l sodium chloride (NaCl) (three-solution test), as well as solutions of 0.32 mmol/l PROP and 0.1 mol/l NaCl (one-solution test) using the Labeled Magnitude Scale (LMS). Subjects were classified as PROP nontasters (n=22), medium tasters (n=51) or supertasters (n=16) by the three-solution test. Taster status was independently determined by the one-solution test using numerical cutoff scores, which were determined by calculating the +/-95% confidence interval around the group means for PROP taste intensity. Supertasters gave PROP a rating of > or =51 ("very strong" on the LMS) and nontasters gave PROP a rating of < or =15.5 (approximately "moderate" on the LMS). Medium tasters fell between these two limits. Ninety-one percent of nontasters, 82% of medium tasters and 89% of supertasters were classified in a similar way by the two methods. Agreement between methods was high [coefficient of association (P)=0.74; P < or =.001]. These data suggest that three- and one-solution methods can reliably classify subjects by taste sensitivity to PROP and could provide valuable tools in population-based studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Cook College, Rutgers University, 65 Dudley Road, 08901-8520, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. tepper@aesop.rutgers.edu
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Tepper
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D011441:Propylthiouracil; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012996:Solutions; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions; D011441:Propylthiouracil